Mapping holidays for a whole year feels easy until you are a human-resources team with employees based across states. There is no single holiday calendar in India that will be valid for all government offices, banks, companies, and employees. Central Government, state government, banking and private-sector calendars all vary.
This Holiday List 2027 guide has written explanations of the national holidays and gazetted holidays, holidays according to state, restricted holidays, long weekends, bank holidays, calendar formats, and how HR should publish the final list of holidays.
Why does it matter? An incorrect holiday can impact the front line, payroll handling, employee expectations and resources to the business.
The three national holidays in India are – Republic Day (26th January), Independence Day (15th August) and Gandhi Jayanti (2nd October). All Central Government offices also provide for extra gazetted holidays on other religious, national and cultural holidays. The final calendar is based on the government notification and location.
Content of The list of holidays 2027 should note not only the general national holidays but also all the other gazette holidays. All the days other than the national holidays are gazette holidays.
2027 is a Tuesday, 26th of January There is an Independence Day on 15th of August Day for the Father of the Nation on 2nd of October A holiday falling on a Saturday or Sunday does not always result in a 2nd free working day for the masses. It is subject to existing rules.
The later events in the middle of the schedule are: Holi, Good Friday, Ram Navami, Mahavir Jayanti, Eid, Buddha Purnima, Muharram, Janmashtami, Dussehra, Diwali, Christmas. It will be based on the place and the schedule is followed.
For central government planning, HR teams should refer to the Ministry of Home Affairs and DoPT holiday notifications. Private companies should also check state requirements and company policy.
Of course calendars differ as state governments observe festivals and rights vary from State to State. If a particular festival is a State festival of Telangana, it will not necessarily show up in a Multistate calendar in the same form for Karnataka, Maharashtra or Tamil Nadu.
Here is a practical overview for planning:
|
State/Region |
Examples of important holidays |
HR consideration |
|
Telangana |
Sankranti, Holi, Ugadi, Ganesh Chaturthi, Bathukamma, Dasara, Diwali |
|
|
Karnataka |
Sankranti, Maha Shivaratri, Ugadi, May Day, Ganesh Chaturthi, Dasara |
Check Karnataka notification |
|
Maharashtra |
Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti, Gudi Padwa, Maharashtra Day, Ganesh Chaturthi, Dasara, Diwali |
Check Maharashtra notification |
|
Tamil Nadu |
Pongal, Thiruvalluvar Day, Uzhavar Thirunal, Tamil New Year, Deepavali |
Check Tamil Nadu notification |
|
Delhi |
Republic Day, Holi, Good Friday, Dussehra, Diwali, Guru Nanak Jayanti |
Check Delhi notification |
2027 calendars with important dates (such as Jan 14 for Makara Sankranti in Telangana and Karnataka, and April 8 for Ugadi, etc.,) Published 2027 calendars can be checked. HR should coordinate dates with the final notification of state.
Tamil Nadu has its own separate calendar, which is based on the festivities of Pongal, Thiruvalluvar Day, Uzhavar Thirunal, Tamil New Year & Deepavali. Maharashtra also has specific holidays.
HR should check State government gazette notifications before posting a list of all employees to the entire company, particularly in multi-State companies.
Restricted holidays provide employees with the choice of specific designated holidays rather than making employees close for a certain percentage of days. This helps if employees are celebrating a variety of religious, cultural or personal holidays but the business maintains consistent working days. HR needs to provide an explanation of how these are chosen.
E.g an organisation could offer statutory fixed holidays and then give employees the option to select two restricted holidays from an alternative list.
HR must then make it clear how many restricted holidays an employee can avail, date by which the decision has to be taken, approval process, if the limited leaves are carried forward or not, the terms – fixed or flexible.
A Restricted holiday is not to be mixed up with annual leave Employees should have the knowledge of types of leave in India. Public holidays are generally not working days; on the other hand, casual leave, earning leave, sick leave are governed by the employer's policies. The categories should be differentiated in a transparent calendar.
Long weekends can be a public holiday falling in between two ordinary weekends or an employee takingApproved Leave coupled with a public holiday. Public Holidays & long weekends are important to the HR team, and also for the employees planning their travel. It can be a break depending on the holiday & weekly-off pattern.
For example if Friday is the company holiday followed by weekly off on Saturday and Sunday, then the employee will be away from work for 3 days consecutively while availing only 1 leave. Similarly, if Friday is a public holiday followed by weekly off on Saturday and Sunday then the employee will be away from work for 4 days consecutively while availing only 1 leave.
A number of 2027 dates could potentially open the door for such a sale, but employees must make sure that the holiday applies to their state and employment. An internet general calendar does not mean it's a company calendar.
Utilize weekend stats for planning purposes HR can use long-weekend data to gauge when to expect a surge in leave, and plan staffing schedules in advance.
If you're wondering if you really do get the day off when your bank is closed, remember to check separately for bank holidays. Banks open for their own relevant dates and times, sometimes involving state closures. When banks close, private companies don't necessarily need to, so double check with HR and finance.
April 1 is an example of a common date because the bank might be shut down for the annual account closing. However, that does not automatically make April 1 a holiday for each private company.
Banking reliance firms need to see what days banks are open before even deciding their dates to make payments.
|
Requirement |
Calendar to check |
|
Central Government employees |
DoPT holiday notification |
|
State Government employees |
State government notification |
|
Private company employees |
Company policy and applicable law |
|
Bank employees |
Applicable banking schedule |
|
Multi-state employees |
Location-specific calendar |
Having a good holiday list 2027 is a wise idea and should be available in a variety of formats that both employees and HR teams can access. PDF is great for publishing, Excel can be the master list, and Google Calendar is suitable for reminders.
|
Date |
Day |
Holiday |
Type |
Location |
Status |
|
26 Jan 2027 |
Tuesday |
Republic Day |
National |
India |
Mandatory |
|
26 Mar 2027 |
Friday |
Good Friday |
Public/Gazetted |
Applicable locations |
Verify |
|
15 Aug 2027 |
Sunday |
Independence Day |
National |
India |
Weekend |
|
02 Oct 2027 |
Saturday |
Gandhi Jayanti |
National |
India |
Weekend |
|
25 Dec 2027 |
Saturday |
Christmas |
Public |
Applicable locations |
Verify |
An HR master calendar can include:
HR can maintain Excel as the master document, export a verified PDF for employees, and add dates to a shared calendar.
There are also free tools that can help HR organise dates and prepare calendar files. But accuracy matters more than format. A professional-looking calendar with an incorrect state holiday can still create confusion.
HR should publish the annual holiday calendar only after checking central, state, and applicable statutory notifications. The final document should identify the location, distinguish mandatory and optional holidays, explain weekend rules, and state whether substitute holidays apply.
List every office, branch, factory, and work location. A multi-state organisation may need different versions.
Review the relevant Ministry of Home Affairs and DoPT holiday notifications, state government notifications, and applicable labour requirements. Do not make an unofficial website your final source.
Create one spreadsheet with the date, weekday, holiday name, category, location, and source.
Mark national, gazetted, public, restricted, and optional holidays clearly.
Determine which holidays fall on Saturday or Sunday and check whether HR has a policy for a "substitute day."
Explain how holidays interact with leave requests and balances. Supporting hr templates can include holiday-list formats, restricted holiday forms, leave requests, and employee announcements.
Employees should ideally receive the calendar before the start of the new year. If employees can plan ahead, managers will be able to staff accordingly.
Suppose an employee has 18 annual leave days. The company observes Friday, March 26, 2027 as a public holiday, and Saturday and Sunday are the employee's weekly offs. The employee takes leave on Thursday, March 25.
Thursday = 1 leave day
Friday = Public holiday
Saturday = Weekly off
Sunday = Weekly off
The employee therefore gets four consecutive days away from work while using only one leave day.
18 annual leave days - 1 day used = 17 days remaining.
This illustrates the benefit of publishing the calendar so far in advance. Employees can schedule their leave in advance, and HR can build potential spike periods in.
HR teams should additionally preserve supported HR templates like holiday-list templates, leave sort template, restricted holiday decide on kinds, and employee-facing templates.
A trustworthy holiday calendar has an impact on staffing, wages, employee leaves, project milestones and business continuity.
Always cross-check the verified dates of the holiday list 2027 before publishing the final dates as per latest central and state government notifications. People might notice some changes in festival dates or state holidays. Online calendars may not be the final reference, but only a planning reference.
A company looking to reduce manual effort managing holiday calendars and employee requests can use leave management software from attendance.ai to automate holiday management.
These questions cover the issues employees and HR teams commonly face when using a holiday calendar. The key point is that the applicable holiday depends on the employee's location, employer policy, and the official notification governing that workplace.
Holidays – 2027 (Central, State and Local) calendar with marked dates. The list of national holidays are included along with holidays for central, state and local governments. Dates of specific holidays vary by location, employer and official notification.
Maybe. Private employers are subject to whatever labour laws, state rules, and company policy they have adopted.
A gazetted holiday is formally included in the applicable government holiday schedule. A restricted holiday is selected by an employee from an approved list, subject to the organisation's rules.
No. Banks may close on days that aren't just general company holidays. Businesses should confirm that the bank is open on the calendar.
HR should issue the calendar prior to the start of 2027 and cross check the final calendar in accordance with the most recent central and state notifications.