School holidays & festival calendar in India — typical dates and how to find your list

When are school festival holidays in India? Typical month windows

Most Indian festivals follow the lunar or lunisolar calendar, so their exact date shifts by a week or two each year on the English calendar — but they fall within predictable month windows. School holidays are built around these festivals plus a few fixed national days.

Broadly, the biggest cluster is the autumn-to-Diwali season, roughly late September to early November, covering Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali. Onam and Janmashtami fall in the August–September window; Holi around February–March; the long summer break around May–June; and a winter break around late December. Which of these is actually a school holiday — and for how long — varies a great deal by state.

How to find your state's official school holiday list

Holiday dates are notified by your state government's education department (or your board) for each academic year, and schools follow that official list. Because lunar-dated festivals move every year, the full-year calendar is usually published a few months before the session begins.

1. 1

   Open your state education department's website, or your board's official portal (CBSE, CISCE or your state board).

2. 2

   Find the 'annual calendar', 'list of holidays' or 'working days' section for the current academic year.

3. 3

   Cross-check gazetted holidays on the National Portal of India (india.gov.in/calendar).

4. 4

   Confirm with your own school — schools can add local holidays or adjust dates within the state rules.

School holidays around October: Gandhi Jayanti, Navratri, Dussehra and the Diwali run-up

October is usually the busiest stretch for school closures. It opens with Gandhi Jayanti on 2 October (a fixed national holiday), followed by Navratri and Dussehra (Vijayadashami), and then the run-up to Diwali.

Many schools combine these into a single autumn break rather than scattered single days, but the length differs by state and school. For the exact dates in any year, rely on your school's notified calendar — the festival dates are set by the lunar calendar and confirmed only a couple of months ahead.

Dussehra, Durga Puja (Bengal) and Onam (Kerala) breaks — why the length varies

Dussehra (also called Dasara or Vijayadashami) marks the end of Navratri and is observed across much of India, but the break around it ranges from a day or two in most states to a longer stretch where the festival is central.

In West Bengal and parts of eastern India, the same season is celebrated as Durga Puja, and schools there typically take an extended Puja vacation. In Kerala, schools break for Onam in the late-August to September window. There is no single national rule — each state and board publishes its own calendar, so check yours for the exact span.

When do Diwali school holidays typically start and how long do they run?

Diwali (Deepavali, दिवाली) falls on the new-moon night of the month of Kartik, which lands somewhere between mid-October and mid-November on the English calendar. Most schools close for a few days around it, and where it follows soon after Dussehra, some states merge the two into one longer autumn-and-Diwali break.

The exact start date and length depend entirely on your state and school calendar, so treat any single date you see online with caution and confirm it against your school's notified holiday list.

Fixed vs lunar festival dates — how to confirm the current-year date

A few school holidays fall on fixed English-calendar dates every year — Republic Day (26 January), Independence Day (15 August), Gandhi Jayanti (2 October) and Christmas (25 December). Most others — Diwali, Dussehra, Holi, Onam, Eid — follow the lunar or lunisolar calendar and shift each year, which is why last year’s date will not match this year’s.

To confirm the current-year date, use your state government's official holiday notification or your school's calendar rather than aggregator or news sites, which often disagree with one another.

School holidays & festival calendar FAQ

Q: Why do school holidays differ from state to state? A: Each state education department notifies its own holiday list based on the festivals observed locally, so a festival that closes schools in one state may be a normal working day in another.

Q: How early is next year’s holiday list published? A: Most state education departments release the full academic-year holiday calendar a couple of months before the session starts, so check your state education portal or your school around that time.

Q: What if my school's list differs from the state government's? A: Your school follows the state's notified list but may add a few local closures. If the two conflict, ask your school which dates apply.

Q: Why can you not just list the exact holiday dates? A: Festival dates move every year with the lunar calendar and closures vary by state and school, so the only reliable source is your own school’s notified calendar — which is what we point you to.