Holidays · West Bengal
West Bengal Government Holiday List 2026 (Amended)
Browse West Bengal's 2026 public, state-government and sectional holidays, with Bakrid, Viswakarma Puja and Karam Puja updates reconciled against later official orders.
- Jurisdiction
- West Bengal
- Effective from
- 01 January 2026
- Issued on
- 27 November 2025
- Status
- Current
- Reference
- 4188-F(P2), as amended
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At a glance
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How to read West Bengal holidays 2026
West Bengal holidays 2026 are not a single uniform employee leave schedule. Finance Department order 4188-F(P2) separates List I public holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act from List II additional closures for specified state-government offices and List III community-specific sectional holidays. The tables below transcribe the annual order and identify later amendments reviewed through 30 September 2026. Dates use the 2026 calendar year. Always check the controlling order and its exact scope.
List I - Public holidays under the Negotiable Instruments Act
Statewide public holidays in the base order, incorporating later statewide amendments identified below. The bank-account closing entry is shown separately.
| Date in 2026 | Holiday or occasion |
|---|---|
| 01 Jan | New Year's Day |
| 12 Jan | Birthday of Swami Vivekananda |
| 23 Jan | Netaji's Birthday; Saraswati Puja |
| 26 Jan | Republic Day |
| 03 Mar | Doljatra |
| 21 Mar | Eid-Ul-Fitr |
| 26 Mar | Ram Navami |
| 31 Mar | Mahavir Jayanti |
| 03 Apr | Good Friday |
| 14 Apr | Birthday of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar |
| 15 Apr | Bengali New Year's Day |
| 01 May | May Day; Buddha Purnima |
| 09 May | Birthday of Rabindranath Tagore |
| 28 May | Id-Ud-Zoha (Bakrid) - changed from 27 May by 1814-F(P2) |
| 26 Jun | Muharram |
| 06 Jul | Birth anniversary of Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee - added by 2268-F(P2) |
| 15 Aug | Independence Day |
| 04 Sep | Janmastami |
| 02 Oct | Birthday of Gandhiji |
| 10 Oct | Mahalaya |
| 19 Oct | Durga Puja - Maha Astami |
| 20 Oct | Durga Puja - Maha Nabami |
| 21 Oct | Durga Puja - Dasami |
| 11 Nov | Bhratridwitiya |
| 24 Nov | Birthday of Guru Nanak |
| 25 Dec | Christmas Day |
List II - Additional state-government office holidays
These closures are not automatically N.I. Act public holidays. The base order excludes the Registrar of Assurances, Kolkata and Collector of Stamp Revenue, Kolkata; later orders may state their own scope.
| Date in 2026 | Holiday or occasion |
|---|---|
| 22 Jan | Day before Saraswati Puja |
| 04 Feb | Shab-e-Barat |
| 14 Feb | Birthday of Thakur Panchanan Barma |
| 04 Mar | Holi |
| 17 Mar | Birthday of Shri Shri Harichand Thakur |
| 20 Mar | Day before Eid-Ul-Fitr |
| 13 Jul | Birthday of Poet Bhanu Bhakt - Darjeeling and Kalimpong only |
| 16 Jul | Rathayatra |
| 26 Aug | Fateha-Dwaz-Daham |
| 28 Aug | Rakhi Bandhan |
| 18 Sep | Viswakarma Puja - moved from 17 Sep by 3446-F(P2); 17 Sep was clarified as a working day by 3473-F(P2) |
| 22 Sep | Karam Puja - set by 3479-F(P2); see the order for its tea-garden tribal-employee scope |
| 15 Oct | Durga Puja - Maha Chaturthi |
| 16 Oct | Durga Puja - Maha Panchami |
| 17 Oct | Durga Puja - Maha Shashthi |
| 22 Oct | Additional Day for Durga Puja |
| 23 Oct | Additional Day for Durga Puja |
| 24 Oct | Additional Day for Durga Puja |
| 26 Oct | Additional Day for Lakshmi Puja |
| 09 Nov | Additional Day for Kali Puja |
| 10 Nov | Additional Day for Kali Puja |
| 12 Nov | Day after Bhratridwitiya |
| 16 Nov | Additional Day for Chhat Puja |
List III - Sectional holidays
These are community-specific sectional holidays in the base order, not a blanket closure for all establishments.
| Date in 2026 | Holiday or occasion |
|---|---|
| 04 Apr | Easter Saturday - Christians only |
| 30 Jun | Hul Diwas - Adibasi (Santhal) employees only |
Amendments and separate limited-scope closures
Order 1814-F(P2) cancelled the previously listed 26 and 27 May Bakrid closures and declared 28 May as the N.I. Act holiday. Order 2268-F(P2) added 6 July as a statewide public holiday. Orders 3446-F(P2) and 3473-F(P2) moved the Viswakarma Puja government closure to 18 September and clarified that 17 September remained a working day. Order 3479-F(P2) fixed Karam Puja on 22 September and expressly includes tribal-community employees in tea gardens within its stated scope.
Separate orders also set a 2 PM closure on 1 July for the stated state-controlled bodies (2291-F(P2)) and a full-day Maa Manasa Puja closure on 18 August in Bankura and Purulia (3059-F(P2)). Election-day and other local orders are not represented as statewide annual holidays in these tables. The base order separately lists 1 April as bank-account closing for banks only; government offices and treasuries remain open. Saturday-marked entries in the source have special government-office qualification.
What employers and readers should verify
A government-office closure or an N.I. Act holiday should not be read as an automatic paid day off for every private establishment. Check the applicable Shops and Establishments or national-and-festival-holiday rules, employment terms, district, banking requirements and any later order. The Finance Department's original PDFs, rather than this transcription, control if a date or scope is disputed. Moon-sighting festivals may change by a later short-notice order.
Official orders used
Employer reference
Implementation notes
Employer impact: This is a West Bengal public and state-government-office holiday reference. It is not, by itself, a uniform private-employer paid-holiday schedule. · Action required: Check the applicable establishment-specific holiday law and the original and amending orders before finalising an employee or bank calendar.
Official document
Check the controlling notification.
West Bengal base holiday order 4188-F(P2).pdf · Finance (Audit) Department, Government of West Bengal