List of Public Holidays in India 2026: Gazetted, Restricted & Bank Holidays

The list of public holidays in India 2026 starts with three national holidays: Republic Day (26 January), Independence Day (15 August) and Gandhi Jayanti (2 October). Central government offices close on 17 gazetted holidays in total. Each employee can also take two restricted holidays. The central list comes from a DoPT order dated 3 July 2025. Every state has its own list too, and this page links all of them.

Why does the right list matter for your company? Public holidays in India differ by state. Build your leave calendar on the wrong list, and you may pay single wages on a day the law treats as paid.

Four Words You Will See on This Page

• National holiday: One of the three days the whole country takes off: 26 January, 15 August and 2 October.
• Gazetted holiday: A compulsory holiday printed in the government’s official gazette. Central government offices close on all gazetted holidays.
• Restricted holiday: An optional day. The office stays open, but each employee can pick two such days a year for their own festivals.
• Bank holiday: Banks are closed under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881, a central law about cheques and payments. Each state announces its own bank holiday list.

Gazetted Holidays in India 2026 (Central Government List)

Central government offices in Delhi close on all 17 days below. Offices outside Delhi get 14 fixed days from this list, and a committee in each state capital picks three more. Muslim holiday dates depend on the moon, so they can shift by a day.

Source: Department of Personnel and Training, order dated 3 July 2025. Hindi names added by factoHR for reference.

Restricted Holidays in India 2026

Think of restricted holidays as a menu. The office stays open, but each employee picks any two days from it for their own festivals. The DoPT menu for 2026 has about 34 occasions, and the common ones are below. Lunar dates can shift by a day.

Restricted Holidays, January to June 2026

Restricted Holidays, July to December 2026

Source: Department of Personnel and Training restricted holiday list for 2026, commonly observed dates.

Which Holidays Must Be Paid in India?

Many companies get this wrong, so read this part slowly.

• The three national holidays are paid holidays in almost every state. A company cannot skip them by paying extra.
• Festival holidays for private companies come from state laws, not from the central list. Each state’s Shops and Establishments Act fixes the number of paid festival holidays. For example, Gujarat requires eight such days under its Act of 2019.
• If a worker works on a paid holiday, most state laws require double wages plus another paid day off later.
• The Factories Act, 1948 only gives factory workers their weekly off day. Festival holidays come from the state Acts above, not from this law.

To find which law applies to your workplace, see the factoHR labour law in India guide. Wage rates for the double-pay calculation are on the minimum wages in India pages.

Bank Holidays in India 2026

Banks do not follow the office holiday list. Each state announces its own bank holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881. Banks also close on 1 April to finish their yearly accounts, and on every second and fourth Saturday. In most states this adds up to around 40 to 45 closed days a year, not counting Sundays. So check your state page before you fix salary transfer dates. The payroll guide explains how salary cut-off and transfer dates work.

Find Your State’s Holiday List for 2026

Every state government announces its own public holidays, optional holidays and bank holidays. These differ from the central list. Pick your state from the list at the top of this page for the full 2026 tables. The Gujarat holiday list 2026 and the Maharashtra holiday list 2026 show how each state page breaks the three lists down.

Regional Festival Holidays in India 2026

Some festivals matter much more in one region than in others. HR teams with offices in several states should watch these dates. Local attendance drops on them even when the day is not a holiday. Lunar dates can shift by a day.

Makar Sankranti / Pongal / Uttarayan – January 14, 2026 (Wednesday)

The harvest festival, observed across India and a holiday in many states.

Goa Carnival – February 14, 2026 (Saturday)

A multi-day festival in Goa before Lent.

Gudi Padwa / Ugadi / Cheti Chand – March 19, 2026 (Thursday)

The lunar new year in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and for the Sindhi community.

Vaisakhi / Vishu / Puthandu / Bohag Bihu – April 13 to 15, 2026

The solar new year in Punjab, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam and West Bengal.

Rath Yatra – July 16, 2026 (Thursday)

The chariot festival in Puri, Odisha, also a large event in Ahmedabad.

Teej (Haryali) – July 26, 2026 (Sunday)

Monsoon festival observed by women in Rajasthan and Haryana.

Onam / Thiruvonam – August 26, 2026 (Wednesday)

Kerala’s biggest festival, with the Onam Sadya feast. Expect a full week of leave requests in Kerala teams.

Raksha Bandhan – August 28, 2026 (Friday)

Observed across north and west India.

Ganesh Chaturthi – September 14, 2026 (Monday)

Ten days of celebrations, strongest in Maharashtra, Goa and Telangana.

Navratri / Durga Puja – mid October, ending with Dussehra on October 20, 2026

Garba nights in Gujarat and pandal days in West Bengal. Durga Puja week empties offices in Kolkata.

Chhath Puja – November 15, 2026 (Sunday)

Four days of rituals in Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern UP. Many workers travel home, so plan for extended leave around it.

Hornbill Festival – December 1, 2026 onwards

Nagaland’s state festival showcasing tribal heritage.

Long Weekends in 2026 for Leave Planning

Gazetted holidays create eight long weekends in 2026. Leave requests pile up around them, so plan your shift coverage early.

1. 24 to 26 January (Saturday to Monday): Republic Day weekend. Adding Basant Panchami as a restricted holiday on Friday 23 January makes it four days.
2. 3 to 5 April (Friday to Sunday): Good Friday weekend.
3. 1 to 3 May (Friday to Sunday): Buddha Purnima weekend.
4. 26 to 28 June (Friday to Sunday): Muharram weekend.
5. 4 to 6 September (Friday to Sunday): Janmashtami weekend.
6. 2 to 4 October (Friday to Sunday): Gandhi Jayanti weekend.
7. 17 to 20 October (Saturday to Tuesday): Dussehra makes a four-day break with the weekend before it.
8. 25 to 27 December (Friday to Sunday): Christmas weekend.

How to Build Your 2026 Company Holiday Calendar

1. First, give the three national holidays. They apply everywhere.
2. Next, open your state’s list at the top of this page and pick the festival holidays your state law requires.
3. Then add two restricted holidays so employees of every faith get their own festival.
4. After that, publish the list before 1 January and display it at the workplace.
5. Finally, load it into your leave management system so holiday work is flagged for double wages automatically.

If you need a starting document, the factoHR leave policy template has a holiday section you can adapt. Similarly, for earned, sick and casual leave rules, see the leave management guide.

Conclusion

In short, public holidays in India for 2026 come in three layers. Three national holidays apply to everyone. Central offices get 17 gazetted holidays. Every state then has its own separate list. Private companies follow their state’s list and its paid-holiday rules, while banks follow the Negotiable Instruments Act. Build one calendar per work location, publish it before January, and let your leave system apply the double-wage rule for you.

Public Holidays in India 2026 FAQs

How many public holidays are there in India in 2026?

There is no single all-India number. Central government offices get 17 gazetted holidays, plus two restricted holidays per employee. Each state announces its own list of public holidays, usually 20 to 30 days. Check your state page for the exact count.

Which are the national holidays of India?

India has three national holidays: Republic Day on 26 January, Independence Day on 15 August and Gandhi Jayanti on 2 October. In 2026, Republic Day falls on a Monday. Independence Day falls on a Saturday.

Are public holidays paid in India?

The three national holidays are paid in almost every state. Other paid festival holidays come from your state’s Shops and Establishments Act. The same Act fixes double wages plus a substitute day off for working on them. The Factories Act, 1948 only covers the weekly off day, not festival holidays.

What is the difference between gazetted and restricted holidays?

A gazetted holiday closes the whole office, so everyone gets the day off. A restricted holiday is optional. The office stays open, and each employee picks up to two such days a year for their own festivals.

What happens when a holiday falls on a weekend?

Nothing, in most cases. Central government offices give no extra day when a gazetted holiday lands on a Saturday or Sunday. In 2026 this happens to Independence Day (Saturday) and Diwali (Sunday). A private company may give a substitute day if its own policy says so.

How many bank holidays are there in India in 2026?

It differs by state. Each state announces 15 to 20 bank holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act. Add 1 April and all second and fourth Saturdays, and banks close on roughly 40 to 45 days a year, excluding Sundays. See your state page for the exact bank list.

Are holiday lists the same across all states?

No. Every state issues its own list, and the differences are large. For example, Onam is a holiday in Kerala but not in Punjab. Uttarayan is a holiday in Gujarat but not in Bihar. A company with offices in more than one state needs one calendar per state.

How do I add these holidays to my leave management system?

Load each state’s holiday list as a separate calendar. Link every employee to their work location, and mark which holidays are paid under that state’s law. A leave management system then applies the right calendar, the double-wage flag and the comp-off rule on its own.