Resources · 2027
Festival & daan calendar 2027
Thirty-three festivals with their 2027 dates, what each means in Gujarat, and the giving tradition attached to it. Dates were cross-checked against at least two India-localised panchang sources; where sources disagree, the card says so rather than picking quietly.
Makar Sankranti / Uttarayan
Traditionally given: Til-gud (sesame and jaggery) laddus and chikki, khichdo, blankets and warm clothing to the poor, ghee and grain, and fodder and green grass to cows (gau-gras). Til daan and donating to gaushalas are considered especially meritorious on this day.
Gujarat's single biggest festival. Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Rajkot shut down for two days of mass kite flying; the Gujarat Tourism International Kite Festival is held at Ahmedabad's Sabarmati riverfront on 14 January and 15 January is celebrated as Vasi Uttarayan. Note: drikpanchang and AstroSage place the 2027 Makar Sankranti punya kaal on 15 January (the Sankranti moment is 20:59 IST on 14 January), while popular holiday lists show 14 January - hence the two-day range.
Vasant Panchami
Traditionally given: Donating books, slates, pens and stationery to students, yellow foods (kesar bhat, sweet saffron rice) and yellow cloth, and sponsoring the education of poor children. Vidya-daan (gift of learning) is the day's signature charity.
Marks the start of spring and the traditional opening of the Gujarati wedding season; Saraswati puja is held in schools and at Ambaji and other temples.
Maha Shivratri
Traditionally given: Annadaan (free food) and bhandaras at Shiva temples, milk, bel patra and black sesame offerings, donating food and clothing to sadhus and ascetics, and free water and sherbet stalls along pilgrim routes.
The five-day Bhavnath Mahadev fair at the foot of Girnar in Junagadh is Gujarat's largest Shivratri gathering, drawing lakhs of pilgrims and Naga sadhus; also large observances at Somnath Jyotirlinga.
Holika Dahan
Traditionally given: Offering the new harvest (green gram, wheat ears, coconut, chana) into the fire and distributing the roasted grain, plus donating grain, jaggery and sweets to the poor.
Bonfires are lit in every neighbourhood on Holi night; in Gujarat the bonfire day is called Holi and the next day Dhuleti. Communities roast and share the new harvest of chana, coconut and dhani.
Holi / Dhuleti
Traditionally given: Distributing sweets (gujiya, ghughra, mathri) to neighbours and the needy, community bhandaras, and donating colours, clothes and sweets to orphanages and children's homes.
Dhuleti is the colour-playing day across Gujarat; Dwarka and the Shrinathji tradition hold large celebrations, and matki-phod (breaking the buttermilk pot) is common in Gujarati towns.
Gudi Padwa / Chaitra Navratri begins
Traditionally given: Distributing neem-and-jaggery prasad, annadaan at temples, and new-year charitable giving; the nine Chaitra Navratri days carry the same kanya-bhojan (feeding young girls) and food-donation tradition as Sharad Navratri.
Not the Gujarati new year (Gujarat's new year is Bestu Varas after Diwali), but Chaitra Navratri begins and Gujarat's Shakti temples - Ambaji, Pavagadh, Chotila, Bahucharaji - see heavy footfall through the nine days.
Ram Navami
Traditionally given: Annadaan and free bhandaras, distribution of panakam (jaggery-pepper drink), chana and sweets, donating food grain and clothes, and supporting gaushalas.
Gazetted holiday; Ramkatha and Ramcharitmanas recitations are a major Gujarati tradition, and temples across the state hold shobha yatras.
Hanuman Jayanti
Traditionally given: Free bhandaras and mass feeding at Hanuman temples, distribution of boondi laddu and chana-gud, donating red cloth, sindoor and oil, and charity to wrestling akharas and gaushalas.
Salangpur Hanuman (Botad district) and Sarangpur Kashtbhanjan Dev hold Gujarat's largest Hanuman Jayanti celebrations, with mass annadaan.
Akshaya Tritiya
Traditionally given: Considered the most meritorious daan day of the year - whatever is given is believed never to diminish. Traditional gifts: water pots (matkas), hand fans, umbrellas, sattu, cooling foods, summer clothing, grain, and gold or cash to temples and the needy; gau-daan is classical.
Called Akha Trij in Gujarat - an unfailing muhurat, so it is one of the biggest days for weddings, gold buying, and starting new businesses. Jain families in Gujarat break the year-long Varshi Tap fast with sugarcane juice at Palitana.
Buddha Purnima
Traditionally given: Dana is central - alms and robes to monks, feeding the poor, blood-donation camps, releasing caged birds and animals, and distributing kheer. Vaishakh Purnima snan-daan (bathe and give) is also a Hindu tradition.
A gazetted national holiday; observed in Gujarat mainly by Buddhist and Ambedkarite communities and at Vaishakh Purnima river bathing sites.
Nirjala Ekadashi
Traditionally given: Jal-daan - setting up free water and chhaas (buttermilk) stalls (piyaus), donating earthen water pots, hand fans, umbrellas, sherbet, cotton clothes and footwear. Water and shade given on this day carry the merit of all 24 Ekadashis.
Observed as the strictest Ekadashi fast (without water) in Gujarati Vaishnava households, falling in peak summer.
Rath Yatra
Traditionally given: Free prasad distribution along the entire route - the Jamalpur temple traditionally hands out mung (sprouted green gram), jambu (black plums), mangoes, cucumber and khichdi to the crowds. Mass annadaan and free water stalls are the day's defining charity.
Very big in Gujarat. The Ahmedabad Rath Yatra from the 400-year-old Jagannath Temple in Jamalpur is India's second-largest after Puri - a roughly 14-km route through the old city with lakhs of participants, elephants and akhadas. It is also Ashadhi Bij, the Kutchi New Year.
Devshayani Ekadashi
Traditionally given: Start of the four-month charity season - donating grain, clothes, umbrellas and footwear, sponsoring annadaan, and taking Chaturmas vows of daan and fasting.
Marks the start of Chaturmas, the four holy months when Gujarati Jain and Vaishnava families take vows, restrict diet and increase charitable giving; weddings pause until Devutthana Ekadashi.
Guru Purnima
Traditionally given: Guru dakshina - offerings of money, cloth, food and books to one's teacher or ashram; donating textbooks and school supplies, sponsoring students' fees, and mass annadaan at ashrams.
Major day at Gujarat's ashrams and sampradayas - Swaminarayan temples, Bochasanwasi (BAPS) centres, and the Girnar and Junagadh guru traditions hold large padu-puja and annadaan.
Raksha Bandhan
Traditionally given: Beyond gifts between siblings, the day drives large charity drives - rakhis tied to soldiers and police, donating clothes, sweets and school kits to orphanages and girls' homes, and giving to widows' and women's shelters.
Called Balev in Gujarat, when Brahmins change the janoi (sacred thread); coastal Gujarat observes Nariyeli Purnima, offering coconuts to the sea before the fishing season resumes.
Janmashtami
Traditionally given: Annadaan and panjiri, makhan-mishri and 56-bhog prasad distribution; donating milk, butter, curd and ghee; gau-daan and feeding cows, and contributions to gaushalas and Krishna temples.
Huge in Gujarat - Dwarkadhish Temple at Dwarka is the focal point, and Gujarat observes a multi-day Satam-Atham holiday with fairs; the Nadiad, Junagadh and Dakor melas are major. Note: 24 August is the Smarta date; Vaishnava/ISKCON and the DoPT gazetted holiday fall on Wednesday 25 August 2027.
Ganesh Chaturthi
Traditionally given: Modak and laddu prasad distribution, community annadaan at pandals, and pandal mandals raising and donating funds for medical camps, blood donation drives and school supplies. Eco-idol and clay-idol donation drives are now standard.
Now one of Gujarat's biggest urban festivals - Surat, Ahmedabad and Vadodara host thousands of public pandals over ten days, with mass visarjan processions.
Anant Chaturdashi / Ganesh Visarjan
Traditionally given: Large-scale annadaan on visarjan day, distribution of prasad and food packets along procession routes, and Jain families giving supan-daan (food to ascetics) and abhayadaan (animal welfare, gaushala and panjrapole donations) in the Paryushan season.
Final visarjan day for Gujarat's ten-day Ganeshotsav; also close to the Jain Paryushan/Samvatsari period observed strongly by Gujarati Jains.
Pitru Paksha
Traditionally given: The single most charity-dense fortnight of the Hindu year. Shraddha involves feeding Brahmins, then offering food to cows, crows, dogs and ants (panchbali), plus donating cooked food, rice, sesame, ghee, clothes, umbrellas and dakshina in the ancestors' names.
Observed strictly in Gujarat; Siddhpur (Patan district) on the Saraswati river is one of India's few matru-shraddha (mother's rites) tirthas and draws pilgrims through the fortnight. No new purchases or auspicious work is done.
Sarva Pitru Amavasya
Traditionally given: Tarpan and pind daan, feeding Brahmins and the poor, and donating cooked food, black sesame, rice, ghee, cloth, and dakshina. Feeding crows and cows on this day is considered obligatory.
The closing day of Pitru Paksha and the catch-all shraddha day for any ancestor whose date is unknown; heavy observance at Siddhpur and on Gujarat's river ghats.
Sharad Navratri
Traditionally given: Kanya pujan / kanjak - feeding and gifting nine young girls (usually on Ashtami or Navami) with puri, chana and halwa, clothes and money. Garba mandals and societies raise funds for charity, and mass annadaan runs at Shakti temples through all nine days.
Gujarat's defining festival alongside Uttarayan. Nine nights of Garba and Dandiya Raas in every street, society and commercial ground - Vadodara's United Way Garba and Ahmedabad's GMDC ground are the largest; Ambaji, Pavagadh, Chotila and Bahucharaji Shakti Peeths run round the clock.
Dussehra / Vijayadashami
Traditionally given: Shastra puja and tool worship followed by giving; exchanging Shami (khijado) leaves as symbolic gold; annadaan and sweet distribution, donating to artisans and labourers whose tools are worshipped, and community feasts after Ravan Dahan.
A gazetted holiday; in Gujarat it is also a favoured muhurat for starting ventures and vehicle and property purchases, and for eating fafda-jalebi, a Gujarati Dussehra ritual in its own right.
Sharad Purnima
Traditionally given: Kheer and milk exposed to moonlight is distributed as prasad, and is traditionally given free to asthma patients and the sick. Donating milk, rice, sugar and white cloth, and annadaan at Lakshmi temples.
Celebrated across Gujarat with night-long doodh-poha and masala milk gatherings under the full moon, and Raas Garba at Vaishnav havelis and Dwarka.
Dhanteras
Traditionally given: As Dhanvantari Jayanti the day carries a strong medical-charity tradition - free health camps, donating medicines and Ayurvedic treatment, and supporting hospitals. Also donating brass and steel utensils, brooms, food grain and cash to household help and the poor.
Opens Gujarat's five-day Diwali season and is the state's single biggest day for gold, silver and utensil buying; Gujarati traders begin Diwali accounting rituals.
Kali Chaudas / Narak Chaturdashi
Traditionally given: Donating oil, sesame oil lamps and vada/bhajiya prasad; giving food and clothing to the poor, and offerings of oil and sindoor at Hanuman temples with food distributed afterwards.
Distinctly Gujarati - Kali Chaudas is observed with pre-dawn abhyang snan, vada and bhajiya offerings, and rituals at Kali and Hanuman temples; also called Roop Chaudas for the beauty-bath tradition.
Diwali / Lakshmi Puja
Traditionally given: Peak giving season: donating clothes, sweets, dry rations, diyas and oil to the poor, Diwali kits and bonuses to staff and domestic workers, gifting to orphanages and old-age homes, and corporate and family daan to temples and trusts. Giving is believed to invite Lakshmi.
The biggest commercial and household festival in Gujarat. Gujarati businesses perform Chopda Pujan / Sharda Pujan - worshipping and closing the year's account books - on Diwali evening, and the stock exchanges hold Muhurat trading.
Bestu Varas / Gujarati New Year
Traditionally given: Annakut - literally a mountain of food, often 108 or more dishes, offered to the deity and then distributed free to all devotees and the needy. Also gau-puja with fodder and green grass to cows, and new-year charity to temples and trusts.
Gujarat's New Year's Day - Vikram Samvat 2084 begins. The day of 'Saal Mubarak' greetings, temple visits at dawn, and the Annakut at Swaminarayan, Vaishnav and Krishna temples. A state holiday and the biggest family-visiting day of the Gujarati year.
Bhai Dooj / Bhai Beej
Traditionally given: Gifts and money from brothers to sisters; charitable extension is giving to women's shelters, widows and girls' homes, and feeding the poor in the name of Yama and Yamuna.
Gujarati sisters invite brothers home for a festive meal on Bhai Beej; it closes the main Diwali sequence before Labh Pancham.
Labh Pancham
Traditionally given: Businesses open the new year's books with a charitable entry - donations to temples, trusts and gaushalas booked as the first transaction for prosperity; sweets and cash bonuses to staff, and annadaan. Jains donate books and fund the preservation of scriptures on Gyan Panchami.
Specifically Gujarati and the last day of the Gujarati Diwali season. Shops and offices that stayed shut since Diwali reopen on Labh Pancham, new account books (chopda) are started, and it is the most auspicious day of the year to launch a business. Jains observe it as Gyan Panchami.
Devutthana Ekadashi / Tulsi Vivah
Traditionally given: Donating tulsi saplings, amla, sugarcane and seasonal produce; annadaan at Vishnu and Krishna temples; sponsoring the weddings of poor girls (kanya-daan) is a classical merit of this day.
Ends Chaturmas and reopens Gujarat's wedding season; Tulsi Vivah is performed in Gujarati courtyards and havelis, with the tulsi plant ceremonially married to Shaligram.
Kartik Purnima / Dev Diwali
Traditionally given: Deep-daan - floating and donating lamps - plus snan-daan: a holy dip followed by giving food, grain, ghee, blankets and clothes. Kartik month annadaan, gau-daan, and Sikh langar (free community kitchen) on Guru Nanak Jayanti.
Big in Gujarat - the five-day Kartik Purnima fair at Somnath is one of the state's largest, and the Shamlaji mela in Aravalli and the Girnar parikrama around Junagadh draw lakhs. Also a gazetted holiday as Guru Nanak Jayanti.
Gita Jayanti / Mokshada Ekadashi
Traditionally given: Free distribution of Bhagavad Gita copies (grantha-daan), annadaan after the Ekadashi fast, and donating food, clothes and books; the day is held to liberate ancestors, so shraddha-style giving is common.
Marked at Gujarat's Krishna temples, notably Dwarkadhish and Dakor, with Gita paath and recitation contests in schools.
Christmas
Traditionally given: Christmas charity drives - gifts, clothes and food to poor children, church-run food distribution and soup kitchens, blanket drives in the cold season, and hospital and orphanage visits.
A gazetted national holiday; observed by Gujarat's Christian community, with the largest gatherings in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and among the Adivasi Christian population of the Dangs.
Hindu festival dates follow a lunisolar calendar and shift each year; some also differ by tradition and by region. Dates here are for India (IST). Confirm with your family priest or local panchang before fixing a ritual date.