Gandhi Jayanti
2 October — the birth of M. K. Gandhi in 1869, and the International Day of Non-Violence.
Where it is kept All India; the principal observance is at Raj Ghat, New Delhi.
When it falls
A fixed Gregorian date. It does not move.
Overview
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born at Porbandar in Gujarat on 2 October 1869. The day is one of India's three national holidays, alongside Republic Day and Independence Day, and is observed with prayer meetings, the singing of Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, and cleanliness drives.
The United Nations General Assembly designated 2 October the International Day of Non-Violence in 2007, which is the day's standing outside India.
Where it comes from
Gandhi trained as a barrister in London, spent twenty-one years in South Africa where the method he later called satyagraha took shape, and returned to India in 1915. The Champaran and Kheda campaigns, the Non-Cooperation movement, the Salt March of 1930 and the Quit India movement of 1942 are the principal landmarks.
He was assassinated at Birla House, Delhi, on 30 January 1948, by Nathuram Godse. That date is observed in India as Martyrs' Day.
Why it matters
2 October is also Lal Bahadur Shastri Jayanti — the second Prime Minister of India was born on the same date in 1904 — and both are observed together.
The day is dry across India: the sale of alcohol is prohibited by law in every state on 2 October, along with 26 January and 15 August.
How to celebrate
- Attend or hold a prayer meeting, or observe the two-minute silenceThe customary form of the day at Raj Ghat and in institutions.
- Take part in a cleanliness driveSanitation was a lifelong preoccupation of his and the day's civic observance follows from it.
- Read something he actually wroteHind Swaraj, or the autobiography — both are short and in the public domain.
What to avoid
These are not all the same kind of thing. Some are prohibitions from a named text, some are Indian law, some are practical, and some are a confusion worth not repeating. Each item says which it is.
- Do not expect to buy alcohol2 October is a statutory dry day across India.
- Do not reduce him to a sloganHe wrote and argued at length, and much of it is uncomfortable in both directions. The primary sources are freely available.
Where this comes from
Everything above is either computed by this site’s own panchang engine, or drawn from the works listed here. Where a custom is modern, commercial or contested, the page says so rather than presenting it as ancient.
- M. K. Gandhi, born Porbandar, 2 October 1869; assassinated Delhi, 30 January 1948.
- United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/61/271 of 2007, establishing the International Day of Non-Violence.
- Lal Bahadur Shastri, born 2 October 1904, observed on the same day.
Dates are computed for the place named above and will differ elsewhere. Regional traditions vary; where two reckonings are in use, both are named rather than one being chosen silently.
Other festivals
All festivals, with dates for any year · The calendar on the home page