Will schools be closed on August 16? Check details here
Krishna Janmashtami, the revered festival commemorating the birth of Lord Krishna, will fall on Saturday, August 16, 2025. This day is marked by fervent devotion, cultural pageantry, and elaborate rituals across the country, especially in sacred regions such as Mathura and Vrindavan, which hold profound mythological significance as the cradle of Krishna’s life and legacy.Despite Janmashtami’s unifying spiritual importance nationwide, the designation of a public holiday for schools, colleges, and government institutions on this day is far from uniform. The observance of Janmashtami as a holiday remains a state prerogative rather than a centralized mandate. Consequently, the landscape of closures varies widely, reflecting India’s federal administrative complexity and regional cultural priorities.
States declaring a holiday on Janmashtami
In several states, the day is recognized as an official holiday, prompting the closure of educational institutions, banks, and government offices. States including Gujarat (Ahmedabad), Odisha (Bhubaneswar), Tamil Nadu (Chennai), Uttarakhand (Dehradun), Sikkim (Gangtok), Telangana and Andhra Pradesh (Hyderabad), Rajasthan (Jaipur), Uttar Pradesh (Kanpur and Lucknow), West Bengal (Kolkata), Bihar (Patna), Chhattisgarh (Raipur), Jharkhand (Ranchi), Meghalaya (Shillong), and Himachal Pradesh (Shimla) have traditionally observed Janmashtami with official holidays.This allowance enables students and citizens alike to immerse themselves fully in religious festivities and cultural programmes dedicated to Krishna. In schools, celebrations often include devotional music, dramatic reenactments of Krishna’s childhood episodes, and traditional dances. Such observances play an educational role, fostering cultural continuity and imparting moral narratives associated with the deity.
States without a Janmashtami holiday
Conversely, in several other states and key metropolitan regions, Janmashtami does not translate into an official holiday. Cities such as Agartala (Tripura), Aizawl (Mizoram), Belapur (Maharashtra), Belagavi and Bengaluru (Karnataka), Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh), Guwahati (Assam), Imphal (Manipur), Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh), Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), Kohima (Nagaland), Mumbai and Nagpur (Maharashtra), New Delhi (NCT), and Panaji (Goa) typically maintain regular working schedules on this day.In these regions, while the festival is culturally acknowledged, the absence of a formal holiday underscores regional administrative decisions that prioritize other factors, including differing demographic compositions and economic considerations. Schools and institutions in these areas may host scaled-down events or allow individual participation without closing.
A call for clarity
The variability in holiday declarations for Krishna Janmashtami often leads to confusion among students, parents, and working professionals. Since neither the Central Government nor many state administrations issue uniform, official notifications, local authorities and individual institutions retain discretion over holiday observance. This fragmented approach necessitates stakeholders to verify schedules directly with their schools, colleges, or employers well in advance.
var _mfq = window._mfq || [];
_mfq.push([“setVariable”, “toi_titan”, window.location.href]);
!(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
function loadFBEvents(isFBCampaignActive) {
if (!isFBCampaignActive) {
return;
}
(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
if (f.fbq) return;
n = f.fbq = function() {
n.callMethod ? n.callMethod(…arguments) : n.queue.push(arguments);
};
if (!f._fbq) f._fbq = n;
n.push = n;
n.loaded = !0;
n.version = ‘2.0’;
n.queue = [];
t = b.createElement(e);
t.async = !0;
t.defer = !0;
t.src = v;
s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s);
})(f, b, e, ‘https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js’, n, t, s);
fbq(‘init’, ‘593671331875494’);
fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);
};
function loadGtagEvents(isGoogleCampaignActive) {
if (!isGoogleCampaignActive) {
return;
}
var id = document.getElementById(‘toi-plus-google-campaign’);
if (id) {
return;
}
(function(f, b, e, v, n, t, s) {
t = b.createElement(e);
t.async = !0;
t.defer = !0;
t.src = v;
t.id = ‘toi-plus-google-campaign’;
s = b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];
s.parentNode.insertBefore(t, s);
})(f, b, e, ‘https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=AW-877820074’, n, t, s);
};
function loadSurvicateJs(allowedSurvicateSections = []){
const section = window.location.pathname.split(‘/’)[1]
const isHomePageAllowed = window.location.pathname === ‘/’ && allowedSurvicateSections.includes(‘homepage’)
const ifAllowedOnAllPages = allowedSurvicateSections && allowedSurvicateSections.includes(‘all’);
if(allowedSurvicateSections.includes(section) || isHomePageAllowed || ifAllowedOnAllPages){
(function(w) {
function setAttributes() {
var prime_user_status = window.isPrime ? ‘paid’ : ‘free’ ;
var geoLocation = window?.geoinfo?.CountryCode ? window?.geoinfo?.CountryCode : ‘IN’ ;
w._sva.setVisitorTraits({
toi_user_subscription_status : prime_user_status,
toi_user_geolocation : geoLocation
});
}
if (w._sva && w._sva.setVisitorTraits) {
setAttributes();
} else {
w.addEventListener(“SurvicateReady”, setAttributes);
}
var s = document.createElement(‘script’);
s.src=”https://survey.survicate.com/workspaces/0be6ae9845d14a7c8ff08a7a00bd9b21/web_surveys.js”;
s.async = true;
var e = document.getElementsByTagName(‘script’)[0];
e.parentNode.insertBefore(s, e);
})(window);
}
}
window.TimesApps = window.TimesApps || {};
var TimesApps = window.TimesApps;
TimesApps.toiPlusEvents = function(config) {
var isConfigAvailable = “toiplus_site_settings” in f && “isFBCampaignActive” in f.toiplus_site_settings && “isGoogleCampaignActive” in f.toiplus_site_settings;
var isPrimeUser = window.isPrime;
var isPrimeUserLayout = window.isPrimeUserLayout;
if (isConfigAvailable && !isPrimeUser) {
loadGtagEvents(f.toiplus_site_settings.isGoogleCampaignActive);
loadFBEvents(f.toiplus_site_settings.isFBCampaignActive);
loadSurvicateJs(f.toiplus_site_settings.allowedSurvicateSections);
} else {
var JarvisUrl=”https://jarvis.indiatimes.com/v1/feeds/toi_plus/site_settings/643526e21443833f0c454615?db_env=published”;
window.getFromClient(JarvisUrl, function(config){
if (config) {
const allowedSectionSuricate = (isPrimeUserLayout) ? config?.allowedSurvicatePrimeSections : config?.allowedSurvicateSections
loadGtagEvents(config?.isGoogleCampaignActive);
loadFBEvents(config?.isFBCampaignActive);
loadSurvicateJs(allowedSectionSuricate);
}
})
}
};
})(
window,
document,
‘script’,
);
Source link