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Eid Milad-un-Nabi, marking the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad, was observed in India on 26 August 2026.
It falls on 12 Rabi' al-Awwal, the third month of the Hijri (Islamic) calendar, and is also called Mawlid, Eid-e-Milad or Barawafat.
Sunni Muslims observe it on 12 Rabi' al-Awwal, while many Twelver Shia Muslims mark it on 17 Rabi' al-Awwal.
Organised public celebration of the Prophet's birth is traced to the Fatimid Caliphate in Egypt in the 10th century.
It is a gazetted holiday in India, observed with prayers, religious gatherings, recitations and processions.
The Islamic (Hijri) calendar counts twelve lunar months of roughly 29 or 30 days, giving a year of about 354 days - some 11 days shorter than the 365-day solar Gregorian year. As a result, every Islamic observance moves about 10 to 11 days earlier in the Gregorian calendar each year, and no Islamic festival is fixed to a particular Gregorian date. Because the Islamic day begins at sunset and local moon sighting can differ, the observed date can also vary by a day between states and communities.
Simple Analogy: Think of the lunar year as a slightly shorter racetrack: running the same number of laps each year, the finish line keeps arriving about eleven days sooner than on the solar track.
The first month of the Hijri calendar; Ashura falls on 10 Muharram.
The ninth month, observed with fasting; Shab-e-Qadr falls in its last ten nights.
Marks the end of Ramadan, on 1 Shawwal.
Falls on 10 Dhu al-Hijjah, the twelfth month, during the Hajj period.
General Awareness > Important Days and Festivals
General Awareness > Festivals and Holidays
GS Paper I > Indian Society and Culture
General Awareness > Festivals of India
The third month of the Hijri (Islamic) calendar, in which Eid Milad-un-Nabi falls.
Arabic for 'birth'; the term used for the commemoration of the Prophet's birth.
The name by which Eid Milad-un-Nabi is commonly known in parts of South Asia.
A public holiday notified by the Government of India on which government offices remain closed.