Manipur Public Holidays 2026

Understanding Manipur's Holiday Calendar in 2026

Manipur declares 28 general holidays for 2026 under Government Order No. LIB-101/1/2022-GAD-GAD (Part 1), published in the Manipur Gazette Extraordinary on 27 November 2025, alongside a 35-day restricted list of which an employee may avail any 2. The gazette is unusually precise, giving each date in the Gregorian, National Saka, and Manipuri calendars together.

The calendar draws on every community in the state. The Meitei valley supplies Yaosang, Cheiraoba, Kang, Mera Houchongba, and Ningol Chakkouba; the hill communities supply Gaan-Ngai, Lui-Ngai-Ni, and Kut; the Pangal Muslim population supplies both Eids and Milad-un-Nabi; and four commemoration days mark the Anglo-Manipur War and the women's uprisings.

For payroll, commercial establishments fall under the Manipur Shops and Establishments Act, 1972. The formal employer base is concentrated in Imphal and weighted toward government, education, and trade. With 28 general holidays and six of them falling on weekends in 2026, the working-day cost is closer to 22 days than the headline figure suggests.

National Holidays in Manipur

Manipur's gazette carries the three national days at their fixed dates: Republic Day on Monday, January 26, Independence Day on Saturday, August 15 and Gandhi Jayanti on Friday, October 2. It lists Independence Day among the six general holidays landing on a weekend in 2026.

Manipur does not declare Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14, since that date carries Cheiraoba instead. April is otherwise moderate, with Good Friday on April 3, Cheiraoba on April 14, and Khongjom Day on April 23.

Manipur-Specific Holidays

Yaosang, the Manipuri Holi, gives two general holidays, Tuesday March 3 and Wednesday March 4. The fourth day on Friday March 6 is a restricted holiday rather than a general one, which is a distinction worth getting right: only the first two days are automatic closures. Sajibu Nongmapanba, the Meitei new year, follows on Thursday March 19.

Manipur observes Diwali on Monday, November 9, one day after the pan-India date of November 8. The gazette is explicit about this, giving 18 Kartika and 30 Mera against the Gregorian November 9. A calendar imported from anywhere else in India will place Diwali on the wrong day for Manipur.

Ningol Chakkouba on Wednesday, November 11 is the state's most distinctive festival, on which married daughters return to their parental homes for a feast. It falls two days after Diwali, so the early-November window carries two general holidays in the same week.

Kang (Rathajatra) on Thursday, July 16 carries a special rule. The notification permits it to be replaced in the Hill Districts and at the Manipur Bhawans in Kolkata, Delhi, and Guwahati by a holiday of local importance, subject to Government approval obtained by 31 January 2026, in which case Kang becomes a restricted holiday in those locations. It is the only entry on the list with a substitution mechanism.

The hill communities are represented in the general list by Gaan-Ngai on January 1, Lui-Ngai-Ni on February 15, and Kut on November 1. Zomi Namni, Hun-Thadou, Chaga Ngee, and Kuki Rising Day sit on the restricted list rather than the general one, a distinction that matters a great deal for establishments in the hill districts, where uptake on those days is high despite the optional classification.

Four commemorations are general holidays: Maharaja Gambhir Singh's death anniversary on January 9, Khongjom Day on April 23 and Patriot's Day on August 13 for the Anglo-Manipur War of 1891, Jananeta Irabot's birthday on September 30, and Nupi-Lal on December 12 for the women's uprisings of 1904 and 1939.

Durga Ashtami (Bor Numit) on Monday October 19 is the only general holiday in the Durga Puja block. Kwak Jatra, the Manipuri Dussehra, on Wednesday October 21 is restricted, so Manipur gazettes no Vijaya Dashami closure at all.

Restricted Holidays in Manipur

The restricted list runs to 35 days and an employee may avail exactly 2. The length of the list is not a measure of expected absence; the quota is, and it should be configured explicitly rather than inferred.

Several observances that are general holidays elsewhere sit on Manipur's restricted list: Maha Shivratri on February 16, Buddha Purnima on May 1, Muharram on June 26, Guru Nanak Jayanti on November 24, Mahavir Jayanti on March 31, and Makar Sankranti on January 14. Buddha Purnima shares May 1 with May Day, which is a general holiday, so the closure happens regardless.

The restricted list carries the observances of specific communities that the general list does not: Zomi Namni on February 20, the Hun-Thadou Cultural Festival on April 7, Kuki Rising Day on October 17, and Chaga Ngee on October 30. In establishments with concentrated Zomi, Thadou, Kuki, or Zeliangrong staffing, uptake on these days approaches total and the two-day quota becomes a real constraint rather than a formality.

Nine restricted days fall on Saturdays or Sundays in 2026, which the gazette itself tabulates. That further narrows the practical value of the two-day quota, and employees will concentrate it on the mid-week days.

HR & Payroll Guidance for Manipur, 2026

Build the Manipur calendar from the GAD notification, not from an aggregator. The commercial holiday sites publish Annexure-I and Annexure-II flattened into a single list of 63 days, which triples the apparent number of statewide closures and silently promotes restricted days such as Kuki Rising Day, Heikru Hidongba, and Kwak Jatra into general holidays.

The Diwali date is the single most likely thing to be got wrong. Manipur observes it on November 9, not November 8. Any calendar shared with another state will place it a day early, and because it sits next to Ningol Chakkouba on November 11 the error compounds across the same week.

The Kang substitution rule means the Hill Districts may not share the valley's July calendar. If your establishments span both, confirm what was approved by the 31 January deadline rather than assuming July 16 is a uniform closure.

Engage HRMS models Manipur's general list, its 2-day restricted quota, and the Kang substitution as separate configuration rather than one flat list, so hill-district and valley sites can hold different declared days under the same state policy.