Hindu festivals, and what each one asks

Major festivals

• Gudi Padwa / Ugadiगुढी पाडवा · युगादिThe lunar new year of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra and Telangana, kept on the first tithi of Chaitra.
• Rama Navamiराम नवमीThe birth of Rama, on Chaitra Shukla Navami, observed at midday because that is the hour the Ramayana gives.
• Mahavir Jayantiमहावीर जयंतीThe birth of Mahavira, the twenty-fourth Tirthankara, on Chaitra Shukla Trayodashi — the principal Jain festival of the spring.
• Hanuman Jayantiहनुमान जयंतीThe birth of Hanuman — kept on the Chaitra full moon in the north and in Maharashtra, and on other days elsewhere.
• Akshaya Tritiyaअक्षय तृतीयाThe third tithi of bright Vaishakha — a whole-day muhurta on which what is begun is held not to diminish.
• Buddha Purnimaबुद्ध पूर्णिमाThe full moon of Vaishakha, on which the tradition places the Buddha's birth, awakening and parinirvana alike.
• Jagannath Rath Yatraरथ यात्राThe chariot festival of Puri, on the second tithi of bright Ashadha — the day the deity leaves the temple and goes out into the street.
• Guru Purnimaगुरु पूर्णिमाThe full moon of Ashadha, kept for the teacher — and for Vyasa, who is counted the first of them.
• Raksha Bandhanरक्षा बंधनThe Shravana full moon — the thread tied on the wrist, in daylight, after Bhadra has passed.
• Krishna Janmashtamiकृष्ण जन्माष्टमीThe birth of Krishna at midnight on the eighth tithi of dark Shravana — the Smarta reckoning, kept at Nishita Kaal.
• Ganesh Chaturthiगणेश चतुर्थीThe installation of Ganapati on the fourth tithi of bright Bhadrapada, observed at midday — and the moon not looked at.
• Anant Chaturdashiअनंत चतुर्दशीThe fourteenth tithi of bright Bhadrapada — the Anant vrat for Vishnu, and the day the Ganapati immersions end.
• Sharadiya Navratri beginsशारदीय नवरात्रिThe autumn Navratri — nine nights from the first tithi of bright Ashwin, opening with Ghatasthapana.
• Durga Ashtamiदुर्गा अष्टमीMaha Ashtami — the eighth night, and the Sandhi Puja at the joint of Ashtami and Navami.
• Maha NavamiमहानवमीThe ninth night — the close of the nine, and the day tools, books and instruments are worshipped.
• Dussehra / VijayadashamiविजयादशमीThe tenth tithi of bright Ashwin — Rama's victory over Ravana, Durga's over Mahishasura, and a whole-day muhurta.
• Karva Chauthकरवा चौथThe fourth tithi of dark Kartika — a fast from sunrise, broken at moonrise, kept for the husband's long life.
• DhanterasधनतेरसDhanvantari Trayodashi — the first day of the Diwali sequence, and the lamp set out for Yama.
• Naraka Chaturdashi / Kali Chaudasनरक चतुर्दशी · काली चौदसThe fourteenth tithi of dark Kartika — Krishna's killing of Narakasura, and the pre-dawn oil bath.
• Diwali / Lakshmi Pujaदीपावली · लक्ष्मी पूजाThe Kartika new moon — Lakshmi worshipped in the Pradosh window, the darkest night of the year lit.
• Govardhan Puja / Annakutगोवर्धन पूजा · अन्नकूटThe day after Diwali — the hill Krishna lifted, built in cowdung, and a mountain of food offered.
• Bhai Doojभाई दूजYama Dwitiya — the second tithi after Diwali, when a sister feeds her brother in her own house.
• Chhath Pujaछठ पूजाFour days of fasting on the Kartika bright sixth — arghya offered standing in water, to the setting sun and then the rising one.
• Kartik Purnima / Dev Diwaliकार्तिक पूर्णिमा · देव दीपावलीThe Kartika full moon — Dev Diwali at the Varanasi ghats, Guru Nanak's birth, and the Tripurari Purnima of the Shaivas.
• Vasant Panchamiवसंत पंचमीThe fifth tithi of bright Magha — Saraswati Puja, the first day of spring, and the day a child is started on letters.
• Maha Shivaratriमहाशिवरात्रिThe great night of Shiva — the fourteenth tithi of dark Phalguna, kept awake through four watches.
• Holika Dahanहोलिका दहनThe bonfire on the Phalguna full moon — lit after Bhadra ends, and never during it.
• Holi / Dhulandiहोली · धुलंडीThe morning after the bonfire — colour, and the one day the ordinary rules of conduct are suspended.
• Makar Sankranti / Pongal / Lohri weekमकर संक्रांति · பொங்கல்The Sun enters sidereal Capricorn — the one major Indian festival fixed by the solar year, not the lunar one.
• Mesha Sankranti / Baisakhi / Vishu / Puthanduमेष संक्रांति · வருடப் பிறப்புThe Sun enters sidereal Aries — the solar new year across India, and the founding of the Khalsa.

Regional festivals

• GangaurगणगौरEighteen days of Gauri worship ending on Chaitra Shukla Tritiya — Rajasthan's festival for married and unmarried women alike.
• Hariyali Teejहरियाली तीजThe green Teej — the third tithi of bright Shravana, when the monsoon has broken and Parvati is held to have won Shiva.
• Hartalika Teejहरतालिका तीजThe strictest of the Teej fasts — Bhadrapada Shukla Tritiya, kept without food or water for a full day and night.

Observances and vratas

• Chaitra Navratri beginsचैत्र नवरात्रिNine nights of Devi worship in the bright half of Chaitra, opening on the same tithi as the lunar new year and closing on Rama Navami.
• Ganga Dussehraगंगा दशहराThe tenth tithi of bright Jyeshtha, kept as the day the Ganga came down to earth.
• Nirjala Ekadashiनिर्जला एकादशीThe waterless Ekadashi of bright Jyeshtha — the hardest of the twenty-four, and the one that stands for all of them.
• Vat Savitri Vratवट सावित्री व्रतThe banyan fast, kept by married women on the Jyeshtha new moon for the long life of the husband.
• Nag Panchamiनाग पंचमीThe fifth tithi of bright Shravana, kept for the serpent deities — milk at the anthill, and no digging.
• Krishna Janmashtami (Vaishnava)कृष्ण जन्माष्टमी (वैष्णव)The Vaishnava reckoning of Janmashtami — fixed by Ashtami at sunrise, and often a day after the Smarta date.
• Radha Ashtamiराधा अष्टमीThe birth of Radha, fifteen days after Krishna's, on the eighth tithi of bright Bhadrapada.
• Pitru Paksha beginsपितृ पक्षThe fortnight of the ancestors — sixteen days of shraddha from the Bhadrapada full moon to the Ashwin new moon.
• Sarva Pitru Amavasyaसर्वपितृ अमावस्याMahalaya — the last day of the ancestral fortnight, on which shraddha is offered for every ancestor at once.
• Sharad Purnimaशरद पूर्णिमाThe Ashwin full moon — the brightest of the year in the tradition, and the night of the rasa lila.
• Ahoi Ashtamiअहोई अष्टमीThe eighth tithi of dark Kartika — a mother's fast for the wellbeing of her children, broken at starrise.
• Dev Uthani Ekadashiदेवउठनी एकादशीPrabodhini Ekadashi — Vishnu wakes after the four monsoon months, and the wedding season opens.
• Tulsi Vivahतुलसी विवाहThe ceremonial marriage of the tulsi plant to Vishnu, on the Kartika bright twelfth — the season's first wedding.
• Vivah Panchamiविवाह पंचमीThe fifth tithi of bright Margashirsha — the wedding day of Rama and Sita, kept at Janakpur and Ayodhya.
• Gita Jayantiगीता जयंतीMokshada Ekadashi — the day the Bhagavad Gita is held to have been spoken on the field at Kurukshetra.
• Dattatreya Jayantiदत्तात्रेय जयंतीThe Margashirsha full moon — the birth of Dattatreya, in whom the three gods are one.
• Pausha Putrada Ekadashiपौष पुत्रदा एकादशीThe eleventh tithi of bright Pausha — one of the two Putrada Ekadashis, kept by those seeking a child.
• Magha Purnimaमाघ पूर्णिमाThe Magha full moon — the closing bath of the month-long Magha snan, and the last major bathing day at Prayagraj.

National holidays

• Republic Dayगणतंत्र दिवस26 January — the day the Constitution of India came into force in 1950.
• Gandhi Jayantiगांधी जयंती2 October — the birth of M. K. Gandhi in 1869, and the International Day of Non-Violence.
• Independence Dayस्वतंत्रता दिवस15 August — the transfer of power in 1947, marked from the ramparts of the Red Fort.
• Christmasक्रिसमस · बड़ा दिन25 December — a gazetted holiday across India, and the principal festival of its Christian communities.

How these dates are worked out

A Hindu festival is fixed to a tithi — a thirtieth of the Moon’s cycle relative to the Sun — and not to a day. A tithi begins and ends at whatever hour the geometry says, so the question of which civil date carries the festival has to be answered by a rule: the tithi running at sunrise, or at midday, or at midnight, or at moonrise, depending on the observance. This site computes the Moon’s position, solves for the tithi boundaries, and applies the rule the tradition gives for that particular festival.

That is why the dates here can differ by a day from a printed calendar. Where two traditions genuinely use different rules — Janmashtami is the clearest case — both are computed and both are shown, rather than one being picked silently.

Two of the festivals below are solar rather than lunar. Makar Sankranti and Mesha Sankranti are fixed by the Sun’s entry into a sidereal sign on the Lahiri ayanamsa, which is why they sit on nearly the same Gregorian date every year while everything else moves.

Regional practice varies widely and this site does not attempt to flatten it. Where a custom is recent or commercial rather than traditional, the festival’s own page says so.