Holidays
38 holiday
Prophet Muhammad Jayanti (Holiday for Muslim Community only)
Public holidaysWednesday
Rakshya Bandhan / Janai Poornima / Kwati Khane Din / Poornima Vrata / Rishi Tarpani / Sanskrit Diwas
Public holidaysFriday
Gaura Parva / Shree Krishna Janmashtami / Gorakhkali Puja / Durwashtami
Public holidaysFriday
Haritalika Teej / Rashtriya Bal Diwas / Ganesh Chaturthi Varta / Rashtriya Dharmasabha Diwas
Public holidaysMonday
Maha Ashtami Vrata / Tula SankrantiDhan / Kalratri / Gorakhkali Puja
Public holidaysSunday
Dashain Holiday
Public holidaysMonday
Maha Nawami Vrata
Public holidaysTuesday
Bijaya Dashami / Devi Bisharjan
Public holidaysWednesday
Papakunsa Ekadashi Vrata
Public holidaysThursday
Dashain Holiday / Pradosh Vrata
Public holidaysFriday
Laxmi Pooja / Kukur Tihar / Narak Chaturdashi / World Radiography Day / Laxmi Prasad Devkota Janma Jayanti / Sukha Ratri
Public holidaysSunday
Tihar Holiday / World Freedom Day / Gai Puja
Public holidaysMonday
Gobardan Puja / Nepal Sambat 1147 Starts / Mha Puja / Goru Puja / Hali Tihar / World Science Day for Peace and Development
Public holidaysTuesday
Bhai Tika / Falgunanda Jayanti / Kija Pooja
Public holidaysWednesday
Tihar Holiday / World Pneumonia Day
Public holidaysThursday
Chhath Parva
Public holidaysSunday
This is the whole holiday and festival list for a Bikram Sambat year — public holidays, festival days, and the observances a patro marks without anyone getting the day off. Each row carries the BS date, the AD date it maps to, and the weekday. The filter narrows the list to public holidays only. Change the year at the top to plan ahead, or to check what fell where last year.
The Government of Nepal publishes the official holiday list before each fiscal year, and district administrations can add local ones on top. The weekly day off is Saturday, not Sunday, so banks, government offices and most schools sit closed on Saturdays all year and work Sunday to Friday. Some entries apply to a community or a region rather than the whole country: the Lhosar days belong to specific communities, and Chhath is kept on a far bigger scale in the Tarai districts than in the hills.
Most Nepali festivals are fixed by a lunar day in a lunar month, not by a number on the Gregorian calendar. Dashain's main day is Ashwin Shukla Dashami. Tihar's Laxmi Puja is Kartik Krishna Aunsi. Holi is Falgun Purnima. Twelve lunar months come to about 354 days against the solar year's 365, so a lunar festival slides 10 to 12 days earlier each year until a leap month (adhik mas) is inserted — roughly once every three years — and then it jumps back. The list already carries the resolved date for whichever year you have selected.
Autumn carries the weight. Dashain runs fifteen days from Ghatasthapana to Purnima and is the one stretch that genuinely empties offices; Tihar's five days of lights follow about a fortnight later, and Chhath comes a few days after Bhai Tika. Spring brings Holi on the Falgun full moon, then Nepali New Year on Baisakh 1 in mid-April. In between sit Maghe Sankranti on Magh 1, Buddha Jayanti on the Baisakh full moon, and Teej, the women's fasting festival, at the tail of the monsoon. The civic holidays work differently — they hold fixed BS dates: Martyrs' Day on Magh 16, Republic Day on Jestha 15, Constitution Day on Asoj 3.
Most people arrive with a practical question. When to book the bus or the flight home for Dashain, since fares start climbing weeks out. Which days the banks and government offices will be shut. Whether school exams collide with the festival block. Which holiday lands next to a Saturday and is therefore worth a trip. Employers run the public-holiday filter for leave planning, and families abroad read the AD column to work out when it is a festival back home.
Usually somewhere around 35 national public holidays, plus every Saturday, plus the ones limited to a community or a district. The count moves each year with the government's published list — the public-holiday filter above shows the current year's set.
Saturday. It is the only full weekly day off; offices, banks and schools run Sunday through Friday, and some offices finish early on Friday.
Dashain falls in Ashwin and spills into Kartik — late September into mid-October, depending on the year. The exact days, Ghatasthapana through Purnima with the Dashami tika day in the middle, are in the list above under the festival filter.
Because it follows a lunar tithi. Twelve lunar months are roughly 11 days short of a solar year, so lunar festivals slip earlier against both the BS and the AD calendar, then reset when a leap month is added.
No. Rows marked as public holidays close government offices and banks nationwide. Festival and observance rows without that mark are calendar entries — private offices and schools may work through them, and some holidays apply only to particular communities or districts.
