India (West Bengal) : public and bank holidays, closure of banks, stock exchanges, school vacations

School holidays :

Catholic or protestant : Since pre-historic times in Europe, festivities (bonfires, offrerings) were marking the beginning of longer hours of daylight with fires and ritual. The Roman festival of Saturnalia lasted several days in December (gambling and offerings). Germanic tribes also celebrated mid-winter (drinking and rituals). The Bulgarian (with Koleduvane) and the Polish (with Gwiazdka) perpetuate this tradition. Jesus of Nazareth was probably born in springtime (Reformists favour autumn). But in the 4th century, December 25th was chosen for the celebration of his birth by Pope Julius I (Bishop Liberus is also mentioned in 354 A.D.). Thus, a Christian element was introduced in the long-established mid-winter festivals. Before 1582, the Papal States and other Italian city states celebrated New Year’s Day on Christmas Day.

Secular holiday :

Secular holiday : The world's most widely celebrated holiday, New Years was set on January 1 by Julius Caesar because that was the date the Roman consuls took over their duties. Paid holiday when falling on Saturday or Sunday

School holidays : Https://banglaruchchashiksha.wb.gov.in/
International schools may follow a different calendar
Schooling is mandatory till age 14
Number of teaching hours: 1,000
Teaching languages: Bengali, English
schools open on Saturday morning
school uniforms required

We carry confirmed dates till March 2024 - 2023 summer holidays have been changed because of the heat wave

Please note that authorities may take last-minute decisions; please double-check if this information is vital to you
Make a Paypal donation of euros 50 to [email protected] to purchase the full calendar for 5 countries, including West Bengalese schools
Contact [email protected] to purchase a file containing confirmed calendars of 550 countries and regions.

Hinduism : Vivekananda, Swami (1863-1902) the patriot-saint of modern India. The spiritual transformation of Narendranath at the hands of Sri Ramakrishna began in 1882 and was completed with his realisation of the oneness of all existence in 1886.

Secular holiday : Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian nationalist whose defiant patriotism made him a hero in India, but whose attempt during World War II to rid India of British rule with the help of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan left a troubled legacy. The honorific Netaji (Hindustani: Respected Leader ), first applied in early 1942 to Bose in Germany by the Indian soldiers of the Indische Legion and by the German and Indian officials in the Special Bureau for India in Berlin, was later used throughout India. [Wikipedia]

Secular holiday : It was the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress at midnight of December 31, 1929 - January 1, 1930, that the Tri-Colour Flag was unfurled by the nationalists and a pledge taken that every year on January 26, the Independence Day would be celebrated and that the people would unceasingly strive for the establishment of a Sovereign Democratic Republic of India. The professed pledge was successfully redeemed on January 26, 1950, when the Constitution of India framed by the Constituent Assembly of India came into force, although the Independence from the British rule was achieved on August 15, 1947. It is because of this that August 15 is celebrated as Independence Day, while January 26 as Republic Day.

Secular holiday : The Hindu goddess of knowledge, music, flowing water, abundance and wealth, art, speech, wisdom, and learning

Secular holiday : Also known as Thakur Panchanan and Roy Saheb, was a Rajbanshi leader and reformer from Cooch Behar. He established a Kshatriya Sabhā to instill Brahminical values and practices in people of his own caste. [Wikipedia]

Buddhism (Mahayana) : Vasant means, the spring season . This is the great spring festival, falling on the fifth day of the month of Magh, the first day of spring. On this day everyone wears a yellow cloth. It represents the ripening of the spring crops. Even the food is coloured yellow by using saffron. Spiritually, the yellow colour is a sign of prosperity; it is the colour of love. On this day we offer special worship to the sun god, to Mother Ganga (the deity of the sacred river Ganges), and Mother Earth. They provide us the means of acquiring food and all that we need to keep alive. We express our gratitude to them by worshipping them. Hindus are ever mindful of the debt they owe to all nature. Worship of nature is extremely important to them.

Muslim, Sufi : Shab-e-Barat Muslim community only

Banks only : Muslims believe that on the night of Shab-E-Barat god writes the destinies of all men for the coming year by taking into account the deeds committed by them in the past. Shab-E-Barat means the night of forgiveness or Day of Atonement. People pray to god both in preparation for Ramadan and for the forgiveness of the sins committed by them.

Hinduism : A Hindu festival in honor of Lord Shiva and his marriage to Goddess Parvati. Ceremonies involving prayers and hymns take place mostly at night.

Hinduism : A Hindu festival in honor of Lord Shiva and his marriage to Goddess Parvati. Ceremonies involving prayers and hymns take place mostly at night.

School holidays :

Hinduism : The religious meaning of this celebration is the burning of any perversion. It marks the victory of good over evil.

Hinduism : The religious meaning of this celebration is the burning of any perversion. It marks the victory of good over evil.

Catholic or protestant : The First Council of Nicaea (a gathering of bishops in the early days of Christianity) wanted to find a day to commemorate the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. This commemoration had to be linked to Jewish holiday traditions, since the last supper of Christ was believed to be a Jewish Passover meal. But the Jewish calendar is based on lunar and solar cycles, so the Easter celebration had to follow the same calendar.

Catholic : Easter Saturday Christian community only

Banks only :

Secular holiday :

Muslim, Sufi : Ends the ninth month in the Islamic calendar. There were 30 days of strict fasting from sunup to sundown in honor of the first revelation to the Prophet Mohammed. In India, except in Arunachal Pradesh.

Jainism : Mahavir Jayanti Jain community only

Secular holiday : This lawyer and politician drafted the constitution of India.

Sikhism : Baisakhi Sikh community only

School holidays :

Secular holiday : Under the Mughals, agricultural taxes were collected according to the Hijri calendar. However, as the Hijri calendar is a lunar calendar, it does not coincide with the harvest. As a result, farmers were hard-pressed to pay taxes out of season. In order to streamline tax collection, the Mughal Emperor Akbar ordered a reform of the calendar. Accordingly, Fatehullah Shirazi, a renowned scholar and astronomer, formulated the Bangla year on the basis of the lunar Hijri and Bangla solar calendars. The new year subsequently became known as Bôngabdo or Bengali year

Hinduism :

Jainism : Jain festival honoring Lord Mahavira on the founder's birthday.

Secular holiday : Chicago, Saturday May 1st, 1886: 350,000 workers go on strike to call for an 8-hour working day. Industries are paralyzed nationwide. On Monday, as demonstrations go on, the police open fire. On Tuesday, Chicago is again on strike. Following a bomb launched against them, the police shoot again. 12 dead, of which 7 policemen. 8 anarchists will be condemned and executed. In 1889, the Socialist International Movement met in Paris and declared this day international workers' day . The Soviets will follow suit, just as the Nazis. In France, under the Vichy regime (1940-1944), the celebration is renamed Labour Day .

Secular holiday : Also written Rabīndranātha Thākura (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941), sobriquet Gurudev, was a Bengali polymath who reshaped Bengali literature and music, as well as Indian art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. [Wikipedia]

Hinduism :

School holidays :

School holidays :

Muslim, Sufi :