Diwali 2026 School Holidays Vary by State

Schools across India have different Diwali break schedules for 2026, ranging from four to five days to as long as two weeks.

By Career Ahead AI · India — AI-assisted, fact-verified against cited sources. Readers should verify key facts.

The Festival Calendar Has Three Key Dates

Diwali will be celebrated on November 8, 2026, a Sunday. That gives the date of the festival, but it does not set a common break length for schools: state schedules assign different holiday windows. The school closures span different parts of the festive period, so the date of Diwali alone does not show when a particular school’s vacation begins or ends.^¹

Govardhan Puja follows on November 9, the day after Diwali. Bhai Dooj and Chitragupta Jayanti fall on November 11. These observance dates sit within the same festival period, but the school holiday schedules do not all cover the same number of days. State calendars therefore differ in how much of the surrounding period they include.^¹

School Breaks Range From Short Closures to Longer Vacations

Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan and Maharashtra are among the states with school holiday schedules covering the Diwali period. The schedules are state-specific rather than a single shared timetable. The states named do not all have the same vacation length, and the available dates for one state should not be treated as the dates for another.^¹²

Some students have a break of four to five days, while others may receive a vacation lasting up to two weeks.

Some students have a break of four to five days, while others may receive a vacation lasting up to two weeks. That range shows why a general Diwali holiday date cannot answer how long a school will close. The length depends on the schedule applying to that state; the stated range does not assign a particular break length to every state named.^¹²

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Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh Have Different Windows

Maharashtra schools are expected to remain closed from November 2 to November 14 for Diwali. The stated window covers days before and after the festival, rather than only the festival date itself. Because this schedule is presented as an expected closure, it describes the anticipated school break rather than establishing a common date range for schools in other states.^¹²

Rajasthan’s Diwali vacation is scheduled from November 4 to November 15. Its stated start and end dates differ from Maharashtra’s window. The two state schedules illustrate why families need to use the calendar for their own state when checking the duration of the break, rather than applying one state’s dates across India.^¹²

Himachal Pradesh schools will observe a five-day special holiday around Diwali. The schedule gives the length of that break but does not specify its start and end dates in the available details. It is therefore possible to distinguish the stated five-day duration from the dated vacation windows given for Maharashtra and Rajasthan, but not to assign exact calendar dates to Himachal Pradesh’s closure.^¹

Students using a holiday calendar to plan the festive period also need to distinguish the vacation window from the examination timetable.¹²

Bihar’s Sent-Up Examinations Follow a Separate Schedule

The Bihar School Examination Board has released the schedule for sent-up examinations for students appearing in the 2027 Matric and Intermediate annual examinations. These are examination dates, separate from the state’s Diwali school holiday schedule. Students using a holiday calendar to plan the festive period also need to distinguish the vacation window from the examination timetable.^¹²

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The Intermediate sent-up examinations run from November 19 to 28. The Matric sent-up examinations are scheduled from November 23 to 27, 2026. The dates set out separate examination periods for the two groups, with the Intermediate schedule beginning earlier and ending later than the Matric schedule.^¹²

Intermediate practical examinations take place from November 30 to December 2, while Matric practical examinations are conducted on November 28. Students who miss a sent-up examination or fail to clear it will not receive admit cards for the 2027 annual board examinations. Candidates registered under the ex-student, compartmental and improvement categories are not required to appear for sent-up examinations.^¹²

Plan Around State-Specific School Calendars

If you are a teacher, tutor, or education-sector worker, the Diwali break is not a single national holiday but a state-by-state calendar. Maharashtra closes from November 2 to 14, while Rajasthan runs November 4 to 15, and Himachal Pradesh gives only five days. When negotiating leave or planning classes, ask for your state's exact dates rather than assuming a common window, because a two-week break in one state may be a four-day break in another.^¹

For Bihar students preparing for the 2027 board exams, the sent-up examination dates sit outside the Diwali holiday period. Intermediate exams run November 19 to 28, Matric from November 23 to 27, with practicals on November 28 and November 30 to December 2. Missing or failing a sent-up exam means no admit card for the annual boards, so build your study schedule around these fixed dates, not the festive break.^¹²

Plan Around State-Specific School Calendars If you are a teacher, tutor, or education-sector worker, the Diwali break is not a single national holiday but a state-by-state calendar.