Delhi
The national observance at Raj Ghat, with the President, Prime Minister and other leaders paying respects, a multi-faith prayer meeting, and the singing of Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram.
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गांधी जयंती
2 October — Gandhi's birthday, and the International Day of Non-Violence.
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Gandhi Jayanti 2026
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2 October, Gandhi's date of birth; also the International Day of Non-Violence
Gandhi Jayanti is observed on 2 October, the birthday of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. In 2026 it falls on a Friday. It is a national holiday in India, and the United Nations also observes the date as the International Day of Non-Violence, declared in 2007.
It is the quietest of India's three national days. There is no parade and no national address. Instead, the day is marked with prayer meetings at Raj Ghat and at Gandhi's other memorials, the singing of Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram and Vaishnav Jan To, and the reading of his writings. The President, the Prime Minister and other leaders pay respects at Raj Ghat in Delhi, and similar ceremonies are held at Gandhi's other memorials — Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad, Sevagram in Wardha, and Birla House.
The day is also, distinctively, a day of cleanliness and service. Swachh Bharat activities, shramdaan (voluntary labour), tree planting, and cleanliness drives at schools and offices are the most common way the day is marked practically, following Gandhi's emphasis on sanitation as a political issue. A nationwide cleanliness campaign is also observed in the fortnight around the date.
It is one of the few Indian holidays that is not a festival in any religious or social sense — it is an observance, and its content is mostly decided by whoever is marking it. Schools hold prayer meetings and essay competitions, some offices organise shramdaan, and liquor shops are closed on the day in most states.
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In the order a household actually does them.
Attend a prayer meeting at a Gandhi memorial or a local venue. The standard format is a multi-faith reading, followed by the singing of Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram and Vaishnav Jan To.
Read from Gandhi's writings. Hind Swaraj, The Story of My Experiments with Truth, and his collected letters are the standard starting points.
Take part in voluntary labour — a cleanliness drive, tree planting or community work. This follows directly from Gandhi's framing of sanitation as political responsibility and is what most Indian institutions actually do on the day.
At 11 am the national observance includes two minutes of silence. It is observed at government functions and is the closest thing the day has to a formal national ritual.
This is where most festival sites give one national answer to a question that has several.
The national observance at Raj Ghat, with the President, Prime Minister and other leaders paying respects, a multi-faith prayer meeting, and the singing of Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram.
Gandhi's ashram holds a full day of prayer, spinning and reflection, and the state observes the day with particular seriousness given his Gujarati origins.
Sevagram, Gandhi's later ashram, holds a prayer meeting and constructive-work programme, and Wardha's institutions run a full day of activities.
Gandhi Jayanti is observed with prayer meetings and school programmes, and the Gandhi memorial sites in Madurai and Chennai hold observances.
Observed with prayer meetings, and the state's institutions run cleanliness drives and shramdaan programmes on the day.
Observed with cleanliness drives and prayer meetings, and the day is a public holiday with the standard ceremonies at schools and government offices.
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Hind Swaraj, the autobiography and his collected letters are the most appropriate Gandhi Jayanti gift, and they are genuinely readable rather than ceremonial.
Suits: child, student, self, parents
Khadi is the specific garment associated with Gandhi's political programme, and buying it supports the handloom sector, which is the point.
Suits: self, parents, family
Directly on-theme: Gandhi's economic programme was built on hand spinning and handloom weaving, and support for weavers is the most faithful form of giving on his birthday.
Suits: community, charity, artisan
Gandhi treated sanitation as a political question rather than a domestic one, so a donation to a sanitation or public health organisation is directly in the spirit of the day.
Suits: community, charity
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With honest budget ranges and a difficulty rating for each.
Gandhi Jayanti is not a decoration festival. A khadi cloth draped on a table with a framed portrait, a small spinning wheel if you have one, and a few flowers is the entire appropriate setup.
Budget: ₹200–₹800
Gloves, brooms, garbage bags and a water station for a neighbourhood cleanliness drive. This is what a Gandhi Jayanti 'decoration' actually looks like in most Indian societies.
Budget: ₹500–₹2,000
A spinning wheel with khadi samples and information cards for a school exhibition. Charkha displays are the standard school Gandhi Jayanti installation.
Budget: ₹300–₹1,500
Including a note on why each dish belongs to this festival.
Gandhi's own diet was extremely simple and largely vegetarian, with a period of fruit-only eating. A plain dal and rice meal, without onion or garlic, is the appropriate Gandhi Jayanti dish — and the point is its plainness, not its flavour.
About 30 minutes
Ingredients
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Gandhi Jayanti is on 2 October every year, and in 2026 it falls on a Friday. It is a national holiday.
The United Nations declared 2 October the International Day of Non-Violence in 2007, in recognition of Gandhi's birthday and his philosophy of satyagraha. It is one of the few Indian observances with an official global counterpart.
Prayer meetings at Raj Ghat and the other Gandhi memorials, with the President and Prime Minister paying respects, multi-faith readings and the singing of Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram. At schools, offices and housing societies, cleanliness drives and shramdaan are the most common activities. Two minutes of silence are observed at 11 am.
Most Indian states declare a dry day on 2 October as a mark of respect, along with the other national holidays. It is a state-level provision rather than a central law.
Yes, it is a gazetted national holiday across India.
Last reviewed 6 October 2026. This page covers a regionally specific festival — where practices differ, they are described separately rather than averaged. If you spot an error, tell us and we will correct it.