Bank Holidays 2025: Scheduled commercial banks will be closed in certain parts of India due to celebration of Holika Dahan and Attukal Pongala on Thursday, March 13. Bank holidays vary from city to city, and are decided by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Bank employees who have holiday on March 13, have good news as they will enjoy a four-day long weekend ahead.

March 13:

As per RBI’s list of bank holidays, branches of banks will be closed in cities such as Dehradun, Kanpur, Lucknow, Ranchi, and Thiruvananthapuram. The reason behind the holiday is Holika Dahan and Attukal Pongala.

What Is Holika Dahan?

Holika Dahan rendered Holika Dahanam in Sanskrit or Chotti Holi, is a Hindu festival in which a bonfire is lit to celebrate the burning of the demoness, Holika. This ritual is symbolic of the victory of good over evil. It precedes Holi, the festival of colours, which celebrates the spring season. According to legend, Holika was the sister of Hiranyakashipu, who acquired a boon that rendered her invulnerable to fire. She then attempted to kill her nephew, Prahlada, by placing him on her lap in a bonfire. However, she was immolated while Prahlada was saved from the fire, as per Wikipedia.

Holi is widely celebrated in northern India.

What is Attukal Pongala?

As per Wikipedia, Attukal Pongala is a 10-day religious festival celebrated at the Attukal Bhagavathy Temple in Thiruvananthapuram in the Indian state of Kerala. On the ninth day, there is a huge gathering of millions of women in the temple surroundings. These women prepare a divine food made of rice in earthen pots and offer it to the Attukal Amma (Goddess of the Temple). The pongala preparation starts with the ritual called ‘Aduppuvettu’. This is the lighting of the pongala hearth (called Pandarayaduppu) placed inside the temple by the chief priest. This is the earliest Pongala festival in Kerala.

March 13 is the start of a long weekend for bank employees. This is because banks will be closed on March 14, March 15 and March 16 as well.

Banks will be closed in most cities on March 14 due to the celebration of the festival of colour, Holi. The cities where banks will be closed are Ahmedabad, Aizawl, Belapur, Bhopal, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Gangtok, Guwahati, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Itanagar, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Panaji, Patna, Raipur, Ranchi, Shillong, Shimla, and Srinagar.

Holi is a major Hindu festival celebrated as the Festival of Colours, Love, and Spring. It celebrates the eternal and divine love of the deities Radha and Krishna. Additionally, the day signifies the triumph of good over evil, as it commemorates the victory of Vishnu as Narasimha over Hiranyakashipu. Holi originated and is predominantly celebrated in the Indian subcontinent, but has also spread to other regions of Asia and parts of the Western world through the Indian diaspora, as per Wikipedia.

Meanwhile, March 15 falls as a second Saturday. Banks are closed on the second and fourth Saturdays of every month in addition to the above-mentioned bank holidays. The fifth Saturday of a month with five Saturdays is a working day for banks. In the past, banks would only open for a half-day on Saturdays.

Lastly, all Sundays are bank holidays for both public and private banks in India.

Bank holidays in India 2025, vary from state-to-state and city-to-city, though there are numerous Public Holidays in the year 2025 applicable throughout the country. Some of these holidays include Republic Day (Jan 26), Independence Day (Aug 15) and Gandhi Jayanti (Oct 2). Apart from these, there are important religious and festival holidays such as Diwali, Dussehra, Christmas, Eid, Guru Nanak Jayanthi, Good Friday, Ganesh Chaturthi, Budh Purnima etc.