Nepal Public Holidays 2082 & 2083 BS: Sarkari Bida List

Every year the Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA), Government of Nepal, publishes a single notice in the Nepal Gazette (Nepal Rajapatra) fixing the sarbajanik bida (public holidays), festival holidays, substitute holidays and office hours for all government offices and public bodies for one full Bikram Sambat (BS) year. Because Nepal's official calendar is the BS lunisolar calendar, the notice is organised by BS dates that shift by roughly two weeks relative to the Gregorian (AD) calendar, so a festival that falls in one AD month can move to another the following year.

The core weekly holiday for government offices is Saturday (Shanibar); Nepal's standard working week runs Sunday to Friday. On top of the 52 Saturdays, the annual notice adds a fixed set of festival and commemorative holidays. Some of these are full-national (observed everywhere), while others are community-specific, region-specific, or restricted to particular groups such as women employees or students.

Two special powers sit on top of the federal list. Provincial governments may each declare up to six additional public holidays reflecting local customs, applicable to federal offices located in that province; and for the three districts of the Kathmandu Valley (Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur) MoHA itself fixes extra Jatra holidays. This is why the exact number of days off can differ between, say, a district office in Province 1 and a ministry in Kathmandu.

MoHA published the 2082 BS holiday notice in the Nepal Gazette in late Falgun 2081 (late February 2025). It applies from Baisakh 1, 2082 (April 14, 2025) to the end of Chaitra 2082 (mid-April 2026). Alongside all 52 Saturdays, the notice listed roughly 28 festival and public-holiday occasions, with Dashain the longest single break (about six days around Ghatasthapana to Ekadashi) and Tihar about five days.

Counting can be confusing because different tallies count differently. The government notice lists the occasions (commonly summarised as about 28-30 festival holidays excluding Saturdays), but some media tallies quote a figure near 88 by counting every Saturday and every individual day of multi-day festivals such as Dashain and Tihar. When people ask 'how many public holidays in Nepal', both answers are technically defensible depending on whether Saturdays and per-day festival counts are included.

Key nationwide observances in 2082 BS include Nepali New Year on Baisakh 1, Buddha Jayanti / Baisakh Purnima, Republic Day (Jestha 15), the Dashain and Tihar clusters in Ashwin-Kartik, Maghe Sankranti (Magh 1), Prithvi Jayanti / National Unity Day (Poush 27, corresponding to January 11, 2026), Martyrs' Day, National Democracy Day (Falgun 7), Maha Shivaratri and Holi (Fagu Purnima). Community holidays such as the Lhosars, Christmas (Poush 10) and Eid are also included, with some dates observed 'as per the sighting/announcement' rather than fixed.

The 2083 BS notice was published in early March 2026 and covers Baisakh 1, 2083 (April 14, 2026) through the end of Chaitra 2083 (April 13, 2027). Media reporting on the notice described 16 public holidays marked for national festivals, in addition to all Saturdays, with roughly five days each announced for Dashain and Tihar in the Ashwin-Kartik period.

Prominent 2083 BS dates include Nepali New Year on Baisakh 1 (April 14, 2026), Buddha Jayanti on Baisakh 18 (May 1, 2026, coinciding with International Workers' Day), Republic Day on Jestha 15 (May 29, 2026), Constitution Day around Ashwin 3, Christmas on Poush 10 (December 25, 2026), Maghe Sankranti on Magh 1 (mid-January 2027), Prithvi Jayanti on Poush 27 (January 11, 2027), Martyrs' Day (Magh 16), National Democracy Day (Falgun 7) and Maha Shivaratri and Holi in Chaitra 2083.

As in prior years, Kathmandu Valley offices receive four additional Jatra holidays (typically Gai Jatra, Indra Jatra, the Matsyendranath Bhoto Dekhaune Jatra and Ghode Jatra), and each provincial government may add up to six holidays of local significance. Because several festival dates are lunar, the AD dates above can move by a day when the final panchang (almanac) is confirmed, so always check the gazetted notice for the definitive day.

Most of Nepal's fixed public holidays are Hindu festivals, reflecting the majority faith, but the gazette deliberately covers Buddhist, Kirat, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and various ethnic-community observances so that the calendar is inclusive across the country's diverse population. Understanding which community a holiday belongs to also helps explain why some are full-national and others are only for specific districts or groups.

The single most important break is Dashain (Vijaya Dashami) in Ashwin-Kartik, followed a fortnight later by Tihar (Deepawali) and, in the Terai, Chhath. These, together with Nepali New Year, the Republic Day and Constitution Day national days, and Prithvi Jayanti, anchor the annual holiday calendar for offices, schools and businesses.

Not every gazetted holiday closes every office. The notice distinguishes full-national holidays (observed by all offices nationwide) from holidays that apply only to a specific community, a specific region, or a specific category of employee. This distinction matters for planning: a bank in Kathmandu, a district office in the Terai and a school may each be closed on different days in the same week.

Several holidays are explicitly restricted. Haritalika Teej and Jitiya are gazetted as holidays for women employees only; Basanta Panchami (Shree Panchami) is typically a holiday for educational institutions; and the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is a holiday for employees with disabilities. Region-locked entries such as the Kathmandu Valley Jatras and the Terai's Siruwa/Sirijunga and Chhath observances apply only in the named districts.

Banks and financial institutions do not simply follow the MoHA list; Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), the central bank, issues its own annual bank holiday schedule for licensed Class 'A', 'B', 'C' and 'D' institutions. For 2082 BS, NRB's list ran to roughly 47-48 days of leave for the banking sector, of which about 32 were fixed dates and the remainder were variable observances (such as the Bhoto Dekhaune Jatra, Eid ul-Fitr, Bakr Eid, Siruwa Pabani, Muhammad Jayanti and Guru Nanak Jayanti) announced closer to the day. Dashain accounted for about six days and Tihar for five.

The biggest structural change is the move to a two-day weekend for banks. NRB directed that from Chaitra 23, 2082 (April 6, 2026) all licensed banks and financial institutions, infrastructure development banks and Nepal Clearing House Limited observe both Saturday and Sunday as weekly holidays. Under the revised schedule, banks operate Monday to Friday, with office hours generally 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM and counter/transaction hours to 4:00 PM, shortened during the winter window (Kartik 16 to Magh 15).

This means that from April 2026 the banking week and the government-office week diverge: most government offices still work six days (Sunday to Friday, with Saturday off), while banks are closed on both Saturday and Sunday. When people search 'Nepal bank holidays 2082' or ask whether a branch is open on a given day, the NRB list - not the MoHA list - is the authoritative reference.

The quickest test is the weekly rule: every Saturday is a public holiday for government offices, and from April 2026 both Saturday and Sunday are holidays for banks. Beyond that, whether a given day is off depends on the gazetted festival list for that BS year, which province the office is in, and whether the office is a government body, a bank, a school or a private firm (private firms are not bound by the government list, though many follow it).

To confirm a specific date, the definitive source is the MoHA public-holiday notice for the relevant BS year (2082 or 2083), cross-checked against the NRB bank-holiday notice for banking transactions. For lunar festivals whose exact day depends on the panchang, treat AD dates as provisional until the final notice is published, and remember that provincial add-on holidays and Kathmandu Valley Jatra holidays can create local closures that are not on the national list.