Baisakhi 2027 and India's regional New Year dates

Baisakhi 2027, the harvest festival of Punjab and the day the Khalsa was founded, falls on Wednesday, 14 April. The same day is New Year for much of India: Vishu in Kerala, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu and Pana Sankranti in Odisha. The next day, Thursday 15 April, brings Bohag Bihu in Assam and Poila Boishakh, the Bengali New Year.

A week earlier, on Wednesday 7 April, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana celebrate their New Year with Gudi Padwa and Ugadi. Here are all the dates.

Key points

• Baisakhi (Vaisakhi), Vishu, Puthandu: Wednesday 14 April 2027.
• Bohag (Rongali) Bihu and Poila Boishakh: Thursday 15 April 2027.
• Ugadi, Gudi Padwa and Cheti Chand: Wednesday 7 April 2027.
• The Sun enters Aries (Mesha Sankranti) on 14 April; one almanac puts the moment at about 3:30 PM IST.
• Ram Navami (15 April) and Mahavir Jayanti (19 April) make mid-April 2027 a festive week.

India's spring New Year dates in 2027

The Union government's 2027 list of restricted holidays gives the same dates: Chaitra Sukladi, Gudi Padwa, Ugadi and Cheti Chand on 7 April; Vaisakhi, Vishu and Meshadi (Tamil New Year) on 14 April; and Vaisakhadi (Bengal) and Bahag Bihu (Assam) on 15 April.

Why so many New Years in April

India has two main ways of starting the year in spring.

• The solar New Year: Many regions begin the year when the Sun enters the sign of Aries (Mesha), an event called Mesha Sankranti. Because it follows the Sun, it falls on 13, 14 or 15 April every year. In 2027 it is 14 April. Baisakhi, Vishu, Puthandu and Pana Sankranti mark this moment; in Bengal and Assam the New Year is celebrated the following day.
• The lunar New Year: Other regions start the year on the first day of the bright half of the month of Chaitra, after the new moon. In 2027 this falls on 7 April, celebrated as Ugadi and Gudi Padwa, and as the first day of Chaitra Navratri in the north.

Baisakhi 2027 in Punjab

Baisakhi is two festivals in one.

• The harvest: For Punjab's farmers, Baisakhi marks the harvest of the rabi (winter) wheat crop. Villages celebrate with fairs, bhangra and gidda dances and the beat of the dhol.
• The birth of the Khalsa: For Sikhs, Vaisakhi marks the day in 1699 when Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru, founded the Khalsa at Anandpur Sahib, initiating the first five members, the Panj Pyare. Gurdwaras hold special prayers and kirtan, and Nagar Kirtans process through the streets.

The biggest celebrations are at the Golden Temple in Amritsar, at Anandpur Sahib and at Talwandi Sabo (Damdama Sahib). Vaisakhi Nagar Kirtans abroad, in cities such as Surrey, Brampton, Southall and Birmingham, draw some of the largest crowds of any Sikh event outside India.

Baisakhi also carries a painful memory. On Baisakhi day, 13 April 1919, British troops under General Dyer opened fire on a peaceful crowd at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, killing hundreds of people. The massacre became a turning point in India's freedom struggle, and many visitors to Amritsar at Baisakhi pay their respects at the memorial.

Vishu in Kerala

Vishu begins at dawn with the Vishukkani, an arrangement of auspicious things, including a bell-metal mirror, golden konna (Indian laburnum) flowers, rice, fruit, coins, a lamp and a cucumber, set up the night before. The eldest family member leads the others, eyes closed, to see the kani as the first sight of the year.

Elders then give Vishukkaineetam, small gifts of money, to children and others, and families sit down to the Vishu sadhya (feast). Fireworks are common in the evening, and many families visit the Guruvayur and Sabarimala temples.

Puthandu in Tamil Nadu

Puthandu, the Tamil New Year, falls on the first day of the Tamil month of Chithirai. Homes are cleaned and decorated with kolam, and many families also arrange a tray of fruit, flowers and a mirror to see on waking. The meal often includes mangai pachadi, a dish of raw mango, jaggery, neem flowers and chillies that mixes sweet, sour, bitter and hot flavours, a reminder that the year will bring every kind of experience.

Pana Sankranti in Odisha

In Odisha, the New Year is Maha Bishuba Sankranti, better known as Pana Sankranti, after pana, a cool drink of bael (wood apple), jaggery, curd and fruit offered to the gods and shared with neighbours at the start of summer. Temples hold special rituals, and in some places devotees walk on fire as part of local festivals.

Bohag Bihu in Assam

Bohag Bihu, also called Rongali Bihu, is Assam's New Year and spring festival, celebrated over several days. The first day, Goru Bihu, honours cattle, and the following days bring Bihu dance and songs, the dhol and pepa (a buffalo-horn pipe), new clothes and gifts of gamosa, the hand-woven Assamese towel. Bihu songs and dance competitions continue across the state for weeks.

Poila Boishakh in Bengal

Poila Boishakh (Pohela Boishakh) is the first day of the Bengali year. Traders open new account books, the haal khata, with a puja and offer sweets to customers. Families wear new clothes, visit temples and gather for a festive lunch, and cultural programmes with Rabindra Sangeet are held across Kolkata. The day is also celebrated as a national festival in Bangladesh.

Ugadi and Gudi Padwa on 7 April

On Ugadi, families in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana eat Ugadi pachadi (or bevu-bella), a mix of neem, jaggery, tamarind, raw mango, salt and chilli, standing for the six tastes of life, and listen to the panchanga shravanam, a reading of the new year's almanac.

On Gudi Padwa, Maharashtrian homes raise a gudi, a bamboo pole topped with a bright cloth, neem leaves, a garland and an upturned copper or silver pot, outside the door or at a window. Processions in traditional dress fill the streets of Mumbai, Pune and Thane.

Holidays and planning

• Central government: These festivals are restricted holidays on the 2027 list. Ram Navami (15 April) and Mahavir Jayanti (19 April) are gazetted holidays.
• States: Punjab, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Assam, West Bengal, Odisha, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana usually declare their own holidays for their New Year. Check your state's 2027 list.
• Ambedkar Jayanti: Dr B.R. Ambedkar's birth anniversary also falls on 14 April.
• A long break: Taking Friday 16 April off turns Ram Navami (Thursday) and Mahavir Jayanti (Monday) into a five-day weekend from 15 to 19 April. See our long weekends 2027 guide.

See every festival of the year in our full festival calendar for 2027.

Within one week in April 2027, India will welcome its New Year in more than half a dozen languages. Whichever one your family celebrates, the middle of April is a good time to plan a break and visit family.