Holidays

Holi is a most colorful festival of India & it is celebrated with full enthusiasm and gaiety in Mumbai, on the full moon day in the month of Phalgun. The crazy, messy, fun-filled and ecstatic festival of colors preaches the message of communal brotherhood and friendliness. Holi, a spring festival, is celebrated to mark the death of Holika.

On every 1st May Maharashtra Day or Workers Day is celebrated in Mumbai. All workers have holiday on this day. It is also called as the "Kaamgaar Din" (in local language).

On the birth of Shivaji Maharaj the Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti is celebrated on a majestic scale and various programs are organized in Mumbai to remember his achievements.

Rakhi or Raksha Bandhan is a special occasion to express the love between a brother & sister. On the full moon day of Shravan, sisters tie a holy thread (Rakhi) on their brothers’ right wrist, and pray for their long life.

Parsi are members of a small religious community and a huge Parsi population lives in Mumbai. The Parsi New Year is celebrated very joyously in Mumbai. Many tasty delecacies are served on the dining table. You will find mirror, candles, incense burner, a goldfish bowl, sugar, bread and some coins.On this aupicuous day poeple get up early in the morning, take bath and clean the house. The entrance of the houses are decorated with colored powder. A sweet Ravo is prepared in the Parsi houses on this day.

The Hindu festival Krishna Janmashtami is celebrating the birth of Lord Krishna. In most of the parts of Mumbai Krishna Janmashtami is celebrated with Dahi Handi, earthen side is breaked by the followers and young poeple which is filled with curd, poeple generally dont break full posts of curd as, this is a way to show the love of Lord Krishna towards milk, butter and curd.

One of the most auspicious festivals of Mumbai is Ganesh Chaturthi. The Hindus celebrate the birth of Lord Ganesha as Ganesh Chaturthi for 10 days. During the ten-day festival, the deity is worshipped in the morning as well evening with devotional songs and aarti. Numbers of competitions are held between the artisans, who prepare Ganesh Idol, local communities compete with each other for the biggest & beautiful Ganesh Statue display and various shows organized by the devotees of Ganesha. On the last day the Ganesh idol is immersed in water with full energy and enthusiasm shown by devotees at the procession.

Dussehra is a celebration of victory of the good over evil. It is believed that on this day Lord Rama fought and defeated the demon king Ravana, and saved his wife Sita. Huge, life-like effigies of Ravana are burnt on this day. It is a gazette declared holiday in India. Dussehra leads to many other legends festivals associated with it like Durga Puja, Navratri & Diwali.   

The much awaited festival of colors & light, Diwali is celebrated on the belief that Goddess Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth) visits every home in the evening. On this auspicious day people light up diyas & candles to decorate their homes, cook many mouthwatering delicacies & sweets, wear new cloths and perform Lakshmi Puja in the evening. People all around go at each other’s home to wish "Happy Diwali".

Christmas is a season of joy, happiness, shopping, gifting and celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated as a universal festival throughout the country. On this day Christians decorate the pine tree with small lights, decorate house with flowers, prepare cakes and do charity. This is time when citizen of Mumbai gets great deals in every shopping.  

Federal Holidays

Jan. 26                                Republic Day
Aug. 15 Independence Day
Oct. 2 Mahatma Gandhi Jayanti

 

Other Holidays
                

March 3   Mahashivratri
March 20 Holi
April 1 Bank's year end account closing
April 4  Gudhi Padwa
April 12  Ram Navami
April 14 Dr. Ambedkar Jayanti
April 22  Good Friday
May 1 Maharashtra Day
May 5 Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti
May 18 Buddha Pournima
June 15   Id-e-Milad
Aug. 13 Raksha Bandhan
Aug. 19                                           Parsi New Year
Aug. 22 Janmashtami
Sept. 1 Ganesh Chaturthi
Oct. 6 Dusserha
Oct. 26 Diwali
Nov. 10 Guru Nanak Jayanti
Dec. 25 Christmas