Punjab Public Holidays 2026

Understanding Punjab's Holiday Calendar in 2026

Punjab's holiday calendar is structured around the Sikh religious year in a way that makes it genuinely different from every other Indian state. Gurpurbs, the anniversaries of the births and martyrdoms of the Gurus, account for a large share of the declared days, and they are distributed across the year rather than clustered into a festival season. The result is a long list with holidays landing in months that are empty elsewhere in India.

The agricultural cycle is the other organising force. Lohri in January and Baisakhi in April both mark points in the harvest year, and in rural Punjab and the agro-processing industries that dominate the state's economy, those dates carry operational reality beyond their status as declared holidays.

For payroll, commercial establishments fall under the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act, 1958. Note that Chandigarh is a Union Territory serving as the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana with its own holiday notification, so a Chandigarh office does not automatically follow the Punjab list, so check which notification applies to your establishment's registered address.

National Holidays in Punjab

The three national days fall on Monday, January 26, Saturday, August 15 and Friday, October 2. Independence Day on the Saturday is absorbed by the weekend, as are Punjab Day and Diwali, which both land on Sundays in 2026.

Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Jayanti on Tuesday, April 14 coincides exactly with Baisakhi in 2026. Both are declared holidays but they fall on the same day, so employees get one day off rather than two. Given how significant Baisakhi is in Punjab, this collision is worth flagging clearly in your published calendar, since the expectation of two separate days will otherwise persist.

Punjab-Specific Holidays

Baisakhi on Tuesday, April 14 is the most important date in the Punjab year alongside Guru Nanak's Gurpurb. It marks both the spring harvest and the founding of the Khalsa in 1699, giving it agricultural and religious weight simultaneously. Rural Punjab and the agro-processing sector effectively stop, and travel from cities back to home villages is heavy.

The Gurpurb of Sri Guru Nanak Dev Ji on Tuesday, November 24 is the single largest Sikh observance of the year. Amritsar sees very large numbers of pilgrims at the Harmandir Sahib and the surrounding infrastructure is under strain for days. Processions and nagar kirtans take place across the state in the preceding week.

Punjab declares several martyrdom anniversaries that no other state observes: Guru Arjan Dev Ji on Thursday, June 18, Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji on Monday, December 14, and the Shahidi Sabha at Fatehgarh Sahib on Monday, December 28. The December pair matters for year-end planning. Most Indian employers assume a quiet late December broken only by Christmas, but Punjab carries two additional full closures in that window.

Lohri on Tuesday, January 13 marks the end of winter and is celebrated with bonfires across the state. It is particularly significant for families with a new marriage or a newborn in the preceding year, and observance is close to universal in Punjabi households regardless of religion.

Hola Mohalla, which coincides with Holi on Wednesday, March 4, is distinct from Holi as observed elsewhere. Centred at Anandpur Sahib, it features martial arts displays and processions by the Nihang orders. Travel to Anandpur Sahib that week is very heavy.

Shaheed Bhagat Singh's birthday on Monday, September 28 and Shaheed Udham Singh's martyrdom day on Friday, July 31 are both declared holidays. These commemorate figures central to Punjab's role in the independence movement and are observed as full closures.

Restricted Holidays in Punjab

Punjab's optional list is short because the state declares so much outright. For 2026 it covers New Year's Day on January 1, Vishwakarma Day and Govardhan Puja on Monday November 9, and Chhath Puja on Sunday November 15.

Vishwakarma Day on November 9 matters disproportionately in Punjab's manufacturing belt around Ludhiana and Jalandhar. In engineering and cycle-parts units it is observed on the shop floor with machinery worship, so treating it as an ordinary working day in an industrial setting is not realistic even though it sits on the optional list.

Chhath Puja is on the list because of Punjab's substantial migrant workforce from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh, concentrated in Ludhiana's industrial units and in agriculture. It falls on a Sunday in 2026, but the travel window for workers returning home runs for roughly a week either side and is the practical staffing consideration rather than the declared day itself.

HR & Payroll Guidance for Punjab, 2026

The Chandigarh question is the most common Punjab payroll trap. Chandigarh is a Union Territory and the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana, with its own holiday notification that matches neither state's list exactly. An employer with offices in Mohali, Panchkula, and Chandigarh, three adjacent municipalities, is running three separate calendars, and assuming Chandigarh follows Punjab will produce wrong closures several times a year.

Late December needs specific attention in Punjab. Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji's martyrdom day on Monday, December 14 and the Shahidi Sabha on Monday, December 28 are both full closures in a period most national calendars treat as quiet apart from Christmas. Year-end statutory work and December payroll both need to account for them.

Punjab's migrant labour composition creates a two-calendar problem inside a single workforce. Industrial units in Ludhiana and Jalandhar employ large numbers of workers from Bihar and eastern UP whose significant dates, Chhath in particular, are not Punjab gazetted holidays. Relying on the short optional list to cover this understates the demand; most units handle it with planned production breaks instead.

Engage HRMS handles the Chandigarh and Punjab distinction by binding calendars to work location rather than to the employer, so a Mohali site and a Chandigarh site carry different declared days without duplicating employee records. Migrant-worker leave patterns around Chhath can be planned as a recurring production break rather than absorbed as unplanned absence.