All government offices, schools and banks in some states will remain closed on Monday, November 27, on the occasion of Guru Nanak Jayanti – also known as Guru Nanak Dev Ji Gurpurab or Guru Nanak’s Prakash Utsav. The bank holiday on this auspicious day is provided under the Negotiable Instruments (NI) Act, of 1881 under which the holidays are allocated under two categories – Real-time gross settlement holidays, and banks’ closing of accounts.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has released a state-wise list of where banks will remain closed today. The regions include:
Agartala, Aizwal, Belapur, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Hyderabad, Telangana, Itanagar, Jaipur, Jammu, Kanpur, Kohima, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Nagpur, New Delhi, Raipur, Ranchi, Shimla, Srinagar, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Gangtok, Guwahati, Hyderabad-Andhra Pradesh, Imphal, Kochi, Panaji, Patna, Shillong, and Thiruvananthapuram.
Guru Nanak Jayanti
Guru Nanak Jayanti is celebrated on the 15th lunar day of the Hindu month of Kartik, or Kartik Poornima as it is known in the Gregorian calendar. It is one of the most important days of Sikhism and marks the birth anniversary of the first of the ten Sikh gurus and the founder of Sikhism, Guru Nanak Dev Ji. The day honours the teachings and wisdom of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, and also promotes unity, equality, and selfless service, embodying the core principles of Sikh philosophy.
This year, the festival is being celebrated around the world on November 27 as the 554th birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. People mark the occasion with fervent devotion, spiritual gatherings and the recitation of hymns from the Guru Granth Sahib – the holy scripture of Sikhism. The community kitchen ‘Langar Seva’ also serves free meals to promote equality.
