Nepal Public Holidays Calendar: Sarbajanik Bida by BS Year

In Nepal a "public holiday" (sarbajanik bida) is a day on which government offices, courts, most banks and public bodies remain closed. The list is not fixed by any single permanent law; instead it is announced afresh every Bikram Sambat (BS) year by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA, Griha Mantralaya) and published in the Nepal Gazette (Nepal Rajpatra). The notification normally appears in Falgun or Chaitra, a few weeks before the new year begins on Baisakh 1, so that offices, schools, banks and businesses can plan their calendars.

The annual notice bundles together three kinds of days: fixed national days rooted in the Constitution and Nepal's political history; religious and cultural festivals whose dates are set each year by the government-recognised panchang (almanac) committee; and all Saturdays, which are Nepal's weekly holiday. Sunday is a normal working day in Nepal, unlike in most Western countries, so the weekend effectively consists of Saturday only.

Because the list is re-issued yearly, the exact number of holidays and the precise dates change from year to year. For 2082 BS the government declared 28 public holidays (excluding Saturdays), and separately confirmed that all 52 Saturdays are non-working days. The MoHA notice also fixes how many days offices close for the two biggest festivals — typically about six days for Bada Dashain and five days for Tihar.

Holidays are also differentiated by who they apply to. Some are nationwide; some apply only to particular communities (for example, additional leave for the group celebrating a given festival); and some are declared for specific districts or provinces. This is why two people working in different provinces, or of different faiths, may not have exactly the same days off.

A core group of holidays falls on the same Bikram Sambat calendar date every single year. These are Nepal's constitutional and political national days, so their BS date never moves — although the corresponding Gregorian (AD) date, and therefore the weekday, drifts by roughly a day from year to year because the BS and AD calendars are not perfectly aligned. On amarnepal.com these AD dates and weekdays are computed directly from the site's verified BS month-length table (Nepal Panchanga Nirnayak Samiti data for BS 2000–2100).

Nepali New Year (Nawa Barsha) always falls on Baisakh 1, the first day of the Bikram Sambat calendar, which corresponds to mid-April (14 April in 2082 BS / 2025 AD). Republic Day (Ganatantra Diwas) marks the 2008 declaration of Nepal as a federal democratic republic and is observed on Jestha 15. Constitution Day / National Day (Sambidhan Diwas) commemorates the promulgation of the 2015 constitution and falls on Ashwin 3.

Three further fixed days honour Nepal's democratic struggle and unification. National Democracy Day (Rastriya Prajatantra Diwas) is on Falgun 7, marking the 1951 fall of the Rana regime; Martyrs' Day (Sahid Diwas) on Magh 16 honours those who died for democracy; and Loktantra Diwas (Republic Democracy Day) on Baisakh 11 marks the 2006 restoration of democracy. Prithvi Jayanti / National Unity Day, honouring unifier Prithvi Narayan Shah, is on Poush 27.

International Workers' Day (Labour Day / Majdoor Diwas) is a special case: it is pegged to the international date of 1 May rather than a fixed BS date, so its Nepali-calendar date shifts slightly each year (around Baisakh 18–19). Treat it as a fixed AD-date holiday, not a fixed BS-date one.

The most important cultural holidays are tied to the lunar tithi (lunar day) rather than a fixed solar date, so their Bikram Sambat and Gregorian dates both change every year. These are the festivals that offices, banks and tourists most need to plan around, because they involve the longest closures. Their exact dates for each year are set by the government-recognised panchang committee and confirmed in the annual MoHA gazette notice — they cannot be computed from a simple table.

Bada Dashain, the longest festival, spans roughly six gazetted days from Ghatasthapana through Vijaya Dashami and Ekadashi, usually in Ashwin–Kartik (September–October). In 2082 BS the main Dashain holidays ran about Ashwin 13–18 (mid-to-late September 2025). Tihar (Deepawali/Yamapanchak) follows two to three weeks later with about five days off, including Laxmi Puja and Bhai Tika, typically in Kartik (October–November).

Other movable holidays include Buddha Jayanti (Baisakh full moon, celebrating the birth of the Buddha at Lumbini), Holi / Fagu Purnima (Falgun–Chaitra full moon, observed a day apart in the hills and the Tarai), Maha Shivaratri (Falgun), Krishna Janmashtami (Bhadra–Shrawan), Chhath (Kartik, especially in the Tarai/Madhesh), and the two Islamic Eids, whose dates follow the Hijri lunar calendar and are announced separately.

Because these dates are variable, always confirm them against the current year's official gazette rather than assuming last year's pattern repeats. A festival can move by two to four weeks in the Gregorian calendar from one year to the next, and occasionally the government adjusts the exact number of days granted.

The Ministry of Home Affairs published the 2082 BS holiday list in Falgun 2081 (late February 2025), effective from Baisakh 1, 2082 (14 April 2025) to the end of Chaitra 2082 (mid-April 2026). The government declared 28 public holidays in addition to all 52 Saturdays. Bada Dashain was granted about six days and Tihar about five.

The year opened with Nepali New Year on Baisakh 1 (14 April 2025) and Loktantra Diwas on Baisakh 11 (24 April 2025), followed by Labour Day on 1 May and Buddha Jayanti in Baisakh. The mid-year national days were Republic Day on Jestha 15 (28 May 2025) and Constitution Day on Ashwin 3 (19 September 2025), which fell close to the Dashain fortnight.

The festival-heavy autumn brought Dashain in mid-to-late Ashwin (mid–late September 2025), Tihar in Kartik (mid–late October 2025) and Chhath in Kartik. The winter national days were Prithvi Jayanti on Poush 27 (11 January 2026) and Martyrs' Day on Magh 16 (29 January 2026), followed by National Democracy Day on Falgun 7 (19 February 2026) and Maha Shivaratri and Holi in Falgun–Chaitra.

Note that different published lists occasionally show a one-day difference in the AD equivalent of a fixed BS date (for example Magh 16 appearing as 29 or 30 January). The dates above are computed from amarnepal.com's verified BS month-length table; where a source disagrees, the discrepancy usually reflects a different panchang rounding, not a change in the Nepali date.

For 2083 BS (14 April 2026 to mid-April 2027) the fixed national days again anchor the calendar on their usual Bikram Sambat dates, with the Gregorian equivalents shifting by about a day from 2082. Nepali New Year falls on Baisakh 1 (14 April 2026) and Loktantra Diwas on Baisakh 11 (24 April 2026), with Buddha Jayanti and Labour Day around the start of May.

The mid-year national days are Republic Day on Jestha 15 (29 May 2026) and Constitution Day / National Day on Ashwin 3 (19 September 2026). Because Dashain moves later in 2083 than in 2082, the great-festival cluster shifts into mid-to-late Ashwin and Kartik: reported gazette dates place Dashain around Ashwin 31 to Kartik 6 (roughly 17–23 October 2026) and Tihar around Kartik 22–26 (early–mid November 2026), with Chhath following in late Kartik.

The winter and spring national days remain fixed: Prithvi Jayanti on Poush 27 (11 January 2027), Martyrs' Day on Magh 16 (29 January 2027) and National Democracy Day on Falgun 7 (19 February 2027). Maha Shivaratri, Holi and the spring festivals fall in Falgun–Chaitra 2083 (February–March 2027).

As always, the movable festival dates for 2083 should be confirmed against the official MoHA gazette for that year, which is the only definitive source. Third-party calendars are useful for planning but are not authoritative until the government notice is published.

Nepal's standard weekly holiday is Saturday, and every Saturday in the year is a public holiday — 52 in total in a normal year. Sunday is a full working day, so a festival that falls on a Sunday does not automatically create a long weekend the way it might elsewhere. Friday is a normal working day too, though many offices run a shorter Friday schedule.

Under Nepal's federal structure, provincial governments may declare their own additional public holidays to reflect regional festivals and customs. The MoHA notice provides that federal government offices located within a province shall also observe up to six days of public holidays declared by that provincial government. This means the practical number of days off can be higher in some provinces than the base national list.

For the three districts of the Kathmandu Valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur), which host valley-specific festivals such as Indra Jatra, the Ministry of Home Affairs itself determines the applicable extra holidays rather than a provincial government. Some cultural holidays are also community- or gender-specific — for instance, extra leave for a community observing its main festival, or Teej being primarily observed by women.

Banks generally follow the government holiday list, so most public holidays are also banking holidays; however, banks occasionally observe a small number of separate closures (such as for annual account closing on the last day of the fiscal year in mid-July / Ashar). Tourists and businesses should assume that during Dashain and Tihar many offices, banks and services run reduced hours or close for several consecutive days.

For each gazetted Bikram Sambat year, amarnepal.com lists every official public holiday with its name in English and Nepali, its exact BS date, and the converted AD (Gregorian) date and weekday. The AD date and weekday are computed from the site's verified BS-to-AD conversion table (Nepal Panchanga Nirnayak Samiti month lengths for BS 2000–2100), so the weekday shown is calculated, not copied from a third-party list.

Each holiday is tagged by type. Fixed-BS-date national days (New Year, Loktantra Diwas, Republic Day, Constitution Day, Prithvi Jayanti, Martyrs' Day, National Democracy Day) can be projected forward reliably because their Nepali date never changes. Labour Day is tagged as a fixed AD date (1 May). Lunar/variable festivals (Dashain, Tihar, Buddha Jayanti, Holi, Maha Shivaratri, Krishna Janmashtami, Chhath, Eid) are shown with the government's gazetted date for that specific year and cannot be projected from a formula.

When you need certainty — for scheduling exams, travel, banking cut-offs or business closures — always cross-check against the current year's Nepal Gazette notice from the Ministry of Home Affairs. This page is a reference and planning aid; the gazette is the legal source. Where our computed AD date differs by a day from another calendar, the difference is a panchang-rounding matter and the Nepali (BS) date and holiday name remain correct.