Holidays and a long-weekend planner for your state

One holiday list for everyone

Holidays in India come from many sources. The three national holidays, Republic Day (26 January), Independence Day (15 August) and Gandhi Jayanti (2 October), are observed everywhere. On top of those, the central government publishes a list of gazetted holidays for its offices, each state declares its own holidays, and many festivals from every community appear on one list or another depending on where you live.

OIOA puts national and state holidays together in one calendar. Holidays are a common tool in OIOA: whichever community you choose in Settings, the holiday calendar works the same way. Festivals from every community appear side by side, as they do on India’s official lists.

A long-weekend planner that knows your week

Not everyone has Saturday and Sunday off. OIOA’s planner asks two things:

• Your regular weekly offs: Saturday and Sunday, Sunday only, Sundays and the 2nd and 4th Saturdays, or custom days.
• The maximum leave days you’re willing to take for a break.

It then lists possible long weekends for your state, showing which days to apply leave on (or “none needed”) and the official holidays involved. The planner uses confirmed state and national holidays only and leaves bank holidays out, so suggestions don’t depend on dates that may not apply to you. They also assume your employer observes the official holiday, which the app reminds you of.

Long weekends, marked for you

The most-asked question about holidays is simple: is there a long weekend coming? OIOA marks possible long weekends, where a holiday falls next to a Saturday or Sunday, so you can see them at a glance and plan travel or time with family early.

A long weekend can appear in a few ways:

• A holiday on a Friday or a Monday gives a three-day weekend.
• A holiday on a Thursday or a Tuesday creates a “bridge”: one day of leave on the Friday or Monday turns it into a four-day break.
• Two holidays close together, such as a festival and a state holiday in the same week, can make a longer break with a couple of days of leave.

We say possible long weekends because whether you actually get the day off depends on your employer, your sector and your state. Banks, schools, central government offices and private companies don’t all follow the same list. The guide Planning long weekends in India explains how to read the lists.

Choosing your state

Choose any of India’s states and union territories, and switch between national, state and bank holiday lists. State holidays differ a great deal. A harvest festival may be a holiday in one state and a working day in the next, and some states add holidays to mark regional figures and events. OIOA shows state holidays alongside the national ones, so the days that apply where you live are in one place.

Why dates can change

Holiday lists are published by governments ahead of the year, but they are not always final:

• Festivals that follow a lunar calendar, such as those fixed by tithi or by moon sighting, may be moved once the date is confirmed. Eid holidays, for instance, are often adjusted by a day after the crescent is sighted.
• States sometimes add or swap holidays during the year.
• Bank holidays are notified separately and can differ from other holiday lists.

OIOA labels anything that hasn’t been independently verified as PROVISIONAL, shows the source of each entry, marks restricted holidays as “not a guaranteed day off”, and says not available rather than guessing when no dated list exists for your selection. Once downloaded, holiday data is saved for offline use.

Please treat holiday data as provisional and confirm with official notifications for anything important, as the disclaimer explains.

Holidays and your own calendar

Holidays sit alongside everything else in OIOA:

• On the Hindu and Jain Home screens, you’ll see the panchang, so you can tell why a festival holiday falls when it does.
• On the Islamic Home screen, the Hijri calendar shows the Islamic date next to the Gregorian one.
• On the Parsi and Sikh/Punjabi Home screens, the Parsi calendars and the Nanakshahi calendar appear in the same way.

Plan with others

Planning a trip with family or friends? Share plans in a group, and set a reminder for the day you need to apply for leave or book tickets.

A calendar that respects every festival

India’s holiday list is itself a picture of unity in diversity: Diwali and Eid, Christmas and Guru Nanak Jayanti, Mahavir Jayanti and Navroz, Pongal and Bihu, all on one calendar. OIOA’s aim is the same: to keep every community’s important days in one place, with equal care. If a holiday you observe is missing from OIOA’s list for your state, please tell us what we missed and include a link to the official notification if you have one.

Frequently asked

Does OIOA show restricted (optional) holidays? Where the list includes them, they’re marked “restricted holiday: not a guaranteed day off”. Central government employees can choose a limited number of restricted holidays from a published list. Check the official list for the year; see Planning long weekends for how they work.

Why does OIOA’s list differ from my office’s list? Employers follow different lists: central government, state government, bank or company calendars. OIOA shows national, state and bank holidays; your employer’s own list decides your days off.

More common questions

Are bank holidays the same as public holidays?

Not always. Bank holidays are notified separately for each state and can include days that aren’t holidays for other offices, as well as the second and fourth Saturdays. Check the bank holiday list for your state when you need a bank to be open.

Is Gandhi Jayanti a holiday everywhere?

Yes. Republic Day (26 January), Independence Day (15 August) and Gandhi Jayanti (2 October) are the three national holidays observed across India.

Why did a festival holiday move after the list was published?

Festivals that follow a lunar calendar or moon sighting can be confirmed or shifted closer to the day, and governments sometimes revise their lists. Treat holiday dates as provisional until close to the day.