Source: Based on information from Tata Services,
Department of Economics and Statistics, Statistical
Outline of India, 1988-89, Bombay, 1988, 171; and
India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
Research and Reference Division, India: A Reference
Annual, 1988-89, New Delhi, December 1989, 73.
Source: Based on information from Tata News Services,
Statistical Outline of India, 1988-89, Bombay,
1988, 171; India, Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, Research and Reference Division,
India: A Reference Annual, 1988-89, New Delhi,
December 1989, 73; and India, Ministry of Planning,
Department of Statistics, Central Statistical
Organisation, Statistical Abstract, 1990, New
Delhi, 1990, 499-500.
Source: Based on information from Tata Services,
Department of Economics and Statistics, Statistical
Outline of India, 1988-89, Bombay, 1988, 171; Tata
Services, Department of Economics and Statistics,
Statistical Outline of India, 1994-95, Bombay,
1994, 187; and India, Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, Research and Reference Division,
India: A Reference Annual, 1993, New Delhi, January
1994, 85.
Source: Based on information from United Nations
Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization,
Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific,
National Studies: India, Bangkok, 1991, 12.
Source: Based on information from India, Ministry of
Home Affairs, Registrar General and Census Commissioner,
Census of India 1991: Religion, Series-1, Paper-1 of
1995, New Delhi, January 1995, x-xxiii, 18-60.
NOTE: In 1957 the Indian government
adopted a uniform, national calendar based on the
Gregorian calendar and the Shaka Era (starting in
A.D. 78) for civil government purposes. Using this
calendar, the year A.D. 1995 is 1917 of the revised
Shaka Era. The Shaka calendar has been used at least
since the first century A.D. Because the Shaka
calendar is based on solar and lunar observations,
some of the dates of holidays listed below are
subject to change in a given year and from one part
of India to another. The dates shown below are from
1993 (Shaka 1915). An unofficial but widely used
calendar in North India dates from the ninth century
A.D., is based on the Vikrama Era (beginning in 57
B.C.), and starts in Chaitra. The Muslim calendar
(starting with A.D. 622) is widely used among the
Muslim population. The Buddhist calendar--based on
the death of Buddha (483 B.C.)--and the Zoroastrian
calendar (starting with 632 B.C.) are also used.
Government Holidays, 1993
Holiday
Significance
Date
Republic Day
Commemorates 1950 proclamation of the Republic
of India
January 262
Holi
Hindu spring festival
March 8
Id al Fitr
Marks end of the month of fasting during Ramadan
(Ramzan), the ninth month on the Islamic calendar
March 25
Ramanavami
Commemorates birthday of Ram
April 1
Mahavira Jayanti
Mahavira's birthday
April 5
Good Friday
Commemorates death of Christ
April 9
Buddha Purnima
Commemorates birth, death, and enlightenment of
the Buddha
May 6
Id al Zuha (Bakr Id)
Commemorates Abraham's williness to sacrifice
his son Ishmael
June 1
Muharram
Muslim New Year's
July 1
Janmashtami
Birthday of Krishna
August 11
Independence Day
Marks independence from Britain
August 15
Milad-un-Nabi (Id-e-Milad)
Prophet Muhammad's birthday
August 31
Mahatma Gandhi's Birthday
Commemorates birth of Mohandas K. Gandhi
October 22
Dussehra (Vijaya Dasami)
Commemorates triumph of Ram over Ravana, tenth
day of Asvina
October 24
Dipavali (Diwali)
Hindu festival of lights
November 13
Guru Nanak's Birthday
Commemorates birth of Sikh leader
November 29
Christmas Day
Commemorates birth of Christ
December 252
Source: Based on information from Hindustan Year
Book and Who's Who, 1994, Calcutta, 1994, 26-27;
India, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity, "List
of Government of India Holidays for 1993," New Delhi,
1993; and M.N. Saha and N.C. Lahiri, History of the
Calendar in Different Countries Through the Ages,
New Delhi, 1992, 254, 258.
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh,
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa,
Tamil Nadu, West Bengal
Tulu
1,156,950
Karnataka, Kerala
Bagri
1,055,607
Punjab, Rajasthan
Note: Languages shown in UPPER CASE print are
Scheduled Languages (see Glossary). The other Scheduled
Language--Sanskrit--has an estimated 2,200 speakers.
Some observers estimate that more than 28 million people
use English as a first, second, or third language with
varying degrees of proficiency.
Source: Based on information from Hindustan
Year-Book and Who's Who, 1994, Calcutta, 1994, Part
II, 207-208; Barbara F. Grimes, ed., Ethnologue:
Languages of the World, Dallas, 1992, 532-65; and
Kumar Suresh Singh, ed., People of India, 11: An
Anthropological Atlas, New Delhi, 1993, 77.