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Amidst the holy days of Shardiya Navratri, the eyes of students, teachers and parents across the country are now fixed on the holidays of Dussehra and Durga Puja. According to the Hindu calendar, in the year 2026, Mahanavami of Shardiya Navratri and Vijayadashami i.e. Dussehra is being celebrated on 20 October. Regarding this great festival of Ravana Dahan, Ramlila and Durga Puja, the education departments of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and the national capital Delhi have finalized the holiday table as per their respective academic calendars. From the convent and basic schools of Hazratganj and Gomti Nagar in Lucknow to the government and private schools of Patna, Muzaffarpur and Delhi-NCR, detailed guidelines have been issued regarding holidays. Students and parents were eagerly waiting for this holiday list to visit their native village or plan tourism during the festive season.
In Uttar Pradesh, relaxation has been given in schools on the occasion of Dussehra and Mahanavami under the annual holiday calendar released by the Basic Education Council and Secondary Education Department. There will be holiday on the occasion of Mahanavami and Vijayadashami in all primary, upper primary, non-government aided and secondary schools of the state. After the weekly holiday of Sunday, October 18, Mahanavami on Monday, October 19 and Vijayadashami on Tuesday, October 20 have been declared as public holidays. Due to this, the students of the state are getting a long weekend of three consecutive days from Sunday to Tuesday. Basic Education Officers (BSA) and District School Inspectors (DIOS) of all the districts including Lucknow, Kanpur, Varanasi, Prayagraj and Agra have been directed to completely suspend teaching work in council schools on these dates. At the same time, many major ICSE and CBSE recognized private schools of the capital have also announced a mini vacation of four to five days from Saturday to Wednesday as part of the Durga Puja festival.
Durga Puja and Vijayadashami are traditionally celebrated on a grand scale in Bihar, making it the most extensive holiday provision in the official calendar of the education department. There is continuous holiday in government primary, middle and higher secondary schools of Bihar on the occasion of Durga Puja from Saptami to Vijayadashami and idol immersion. As per the calendar prescribed by the Education Department, schools across the state will remain closed from October 18 (Sunday) till October 21 (Idol immersion). In many border and rural districts, this holiday is becoming effective from October 17 (Shashthi), due to which students and teachers are getting a long festive holiday of five to six days continuously. All the district education officers of Patna, Gaya, Bhagalpur and Muzaffarpur have clarified that there will be no pressure of mandatory presence of teachers or special classes in any government school during Durga Puja.
October 20 has been declared a Gazetted Holiday of Dussehra (Vijayadashami) in all Sarvodaya Vidyalayas, Government Schools and Aided Educational Institutions run under the Directorate of Education (DoE) of National Capital Territory of Delhi. Due to the weekly holiday of Sunday on October 18 and Mahanavami on October 19, most of the major private schools in Delhi—especially the institutions in Dwarka, Rohini, Vasant Kunj and Mayur Vihar—have issued circulars to keep schools closed on both October 19 and 20. Apart from this, CBSE and Cambridge Board affiliated schools of Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad have also given three consecutive days of holidays to the children by declaring holidays on Monday and Tuesday. Keeping in view the possible rules for pollution control and Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-NCR, school managements are implementing the festival holidays in a systematic manner.
If we talk about other states of the country, then the holidays of Durga Puja and Vijayadashami are the longest in West Bengal. In the schools under the West Bengal Board of Secondary Education (WBBSE), the puja vacation starts after Mahalaya, which continues till Vijayadashami and Lakshmi Puja i.e. for about 10 to 12 days. Apart from this, in neighboring states like Jharkhand, Odisha and Assam, a complete holiday of four days is declared in government and private educational institutions from Mahanavami to Vijayadashami. South Indian states—such as Karnataka and Telangana—also offer a 10-day long autumn holiday (Dussehra Vacation) as part of the Dussehra and ‘Bathukamma’ celebrations.
To avoid any confusion regarding holiday dates during the festive season, parents must verify the official diary notice issued by their children’s school, circular sent on the school mobile app or WhatsApp group. While the orders of the Basic Education Council and government education departments are binding on all government schools, many large private and international schools may add an extra day or two of holiday as per their internal academic calendar. After Ravana Dahan and Vijayadashami on 20th October, teaching work will resume as per the previous timetable from 21st or 22nd October in most of the states, after which the big holidays of upcoming Diwali and Chhath Puja will begin.