Plan Your Bank Holidays With Family Feast

2012 Bank Holidays are days which imply and signify festivals, events and holidays which are of religious and national importance. On bank holidays, the banks are closed and do not run. No sort of transactions, which are pertaining to the bank, i.e. the monetary transactions, are allowed or take place on a bank holiday. There are few days which are optional, and some are Gazzetted in the year 2012.

India being a secular and tolerant nation, the Bank holidays have been decided on festivals from various religions, such as Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, Sikh and Islam festivals. Three days are national holidays in India. Those days are:

1. Republic Day (26th January)

2. Independence Day (15th August)

3. Gandhi Jayanti (2nd October)

The other holidays vary from one state to another. Maha Shivratri (20th February) & Holi (8th March) are in the first three months. In April, may and June, the bank holidays re Mahavir Jayanti,( 5th April), Good Friday,(6th April), May Day,(1st May), Buddha Purnima (6th May). In August, we have Independence Day (15th August) and Krishna Janmastami (10th August). September marks the celebration and worship of lord Ganesha (19th September). October, we have Gandhi Jayanti and Dushera (24th October) celebrations. Diwali is on 19th November. Guru Nanak Jayanti would be celebrated on 28th November & Christmas, needless to say, is on 25th December.

Muharram, which is the Islamic New Year, and Eid-ul-Fitr are also days when bank do not operate. Dushera usually continues for a period of ten days, and the main worship starts from the 6th day. But the bank remains closed only on the last day.

In the United States of America, the most popular bank holidays are New Year's Day, Independence Day and Thanksgiving. Several other holidays of national importance are also included in the bank holiday calendar. The bank holidays in the U.S are broadly segregated under the tags of Religious, International, Secular and Uniquely America.

The tentative bank holidays for 2012 are enlisted below:

New Year's Day (1st January), Martin Luther King's birthday on the third Monday in January. President's day is commemorated on the third Monday of February. The last Monday of the month of May. Independence Day is celebrated with huge pomp and show on the 4th of July. Labor Day on September 3rd, and Columbus Day on 8th October, along with Veteran's day on November 11th are few other bank holidays in the U.S. Thanksgiving Day will be on 22nd November. Christmas, as we need not mention, is on the 25th of December.

Certain schools and Institutes remain on bank holidays. All the offices in the private sector are shut down too. Every country has various bank holidays owing to the vast multitude of culture in each country. Festivals differ and hence the bank holidays as well. The bank holidays therefore depend on the culture, religions and event of national importance.

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