India, being a culturally diverse and fervent society, celebrates various holidays and festivals. There are three national holidays in
India:
Independence Day on 15 August,
Mahatma Gandhi's birthday on 2 October, and
Republic Day on 26 January. States and regions have local festivals depending on prevalent religious and linguistic demographics. Popular religious festivals include the Sikh festivals like Guru Nanak Jayanti,
Hindu festivals of
Makar Sankranti,
Maha Shivaratri,
Diwali,
Ganesh Chaturthi,
Holi,
Dussehra, Islamic festivals of
Eid ul-Fitr,
Eid al-Adha,
Mawlid an-Nabi and Christian festivals of
Christmas and days of observances such as
Good Friday are observed throughout the country.