DigiNepal · festivals
Mahavir Jayanti (महावीर जयंती (Hindi)). Region: India, Jain diaspora. Tradition: Jain. Calendar: Lunar (Chaitra shukla 13). Dates: India 2026: Tuesday 31 March 2026 [official, source IN]; India 2027: Sunday 18 April 2027 [official, source IN]; India 2028: Friday 7 April 2028 [official, source IN]. History and significance: Mahavir Jayanti celebrates the birth of Vardhamana Mahavira, the twenty fourth and last Tirthankara of Jainism, in the sixth century BCE. Jains visit temples, bathe images of Mahavira and hold processions. The day stresses non violence, truthfulness and charity. It is a gazetted holiday in India. Key rituals and foods: Abhisheka of Mahavira images, processions, charity, fasting; foods are strictly vegetarian without root vegetables. Date basis: official = matches a government gazetted holiday list; computed = calculated from the calendar system (tithi astronomy with skyfield and JPL DE421, Hijri Umm al-Qura, Chinese, Korean and Hebrew calendar libraries, or the fixed rule); expected = Umm al-Qura projection pending moon sighting. Sources: Wikipedia and Wikidata (CC BY-SA, CC0) and government holiday lists, summarised in our own words.