Creating an accurate list of Indian government
holidays, festival dates and bank holidays isn't easy, as sources
frequently offer contradictory dates for the same event. This list
contains the calendar of dates for 2008 that were most consistent
in various places, with extra kudos being given to listings published
by the Indian government. Nevertheless public holiday dates may
not be universally accurate, so don't plan your annual vacation
or big trip to the bank around them without double checking elsewhere.
Dates marked with letters in the right hand
column represent gazetted public holidays (p) and restricted holidays
(r) for central government offices in Delhi (the state of Himachal
Pradesh will be added shortly), but many of those marked will
be applicable as public holidays in other Indian states. Dates with
a coloured (p) are marked all over
India. 'Restricted holidays' mean that government employees may
take a choice of any two of the dates, while on public holidays
most government offices and banks will be closed. Entries with no
letter in the right hand column are not official holidays in Delhi,
but may be in other Indian states.
The generous public holidays meted out to Indian
Government employees has been taking a bit of a hammering, with
the suggestion that all religious holidays marked on the calendar
as "gazetted holidays" be replaced by a smaller number
of "restricted" dates chosen by the employee. (See article
in the Indian
Express).
Events listed cover important dates for all
of India's main religions; Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Buddhist, Christian
and Muslim. Apart from dates of Indian melas, events of cultural
importance and public / govt holidays, we've added a few significant
historical dates and anniversaries of general interest. If you think
any important dates are missing (or have a list of dates for other
states), please let us know.
*Note:
Id ul Fitr subject to change; one day earlier or later depending
on sighting of the moon.
Note
on Tagore: For some reason the government have designated
this as 8th May - the actual anniversary of Tagore's birth is is
7th May.
Note
on Parsi New Year: From what I have read,
the Parsi New Year used by the Indian Government as a holiday date
seems to bear no relation whatever to any of the dates given by
the various calendars in use. If anyone can explain
why this is so , I'd be grateful!
Lunar
dates note: Dates and times for lunar cycles are based on
New Delhi as the location. 'New moon' is the 'astronomical' new
moon, i.e. when the moon is dark, rather than the sighting of the
first crescent, as used in some religious calendar systems
Holiday dates for previous years are on this
page.
capital:
New Delhi population:
1.06 billion area: 3,166,414
sq km population density: 310
persons per sq km GNI (GNP): USD
470 per capita per year languages: 22 official
+ 1600 minor languages and dialects (dec 2003) number of states: 28
+ 7 union territories religion: 80.5%
Hindu, 13.4% Muslim, 2.3% Christian, 1.9% Sikh, 0.8% Buddhist,
0.4% Jain, 0.01% Zoroastrian, 1.3% other (2001) literacy rate: 64.8%
gender ratio: 933
fem to 1000 male (2001) life expectancy: 61.5yr
male; 62.7yr fem
see full stats page
neoncarrot is an online personal travelogue of our travel experiences,
life in India, backpacking life and chai drinking in the Kulu Valley
(also known as the Valley of the Gods) in the Indian Himalaya. The
site contains travelling tips
and hints, articles and
essays, photo galleries,
an online journal / weblog
and some vital Indian
statistics.
