What are the major holidays and festivals of India?

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The major secular holidays in India are Independence Day (August 15), Republic Day (January 26), and Gandhi Jayanti (October 2, Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary). Popular religious festivals and holidays celebrated across India include Hindu festivals such as Holi (also known as the festival of colors), Dussehra (when the story of the Ramayana is reenacted), and Diwali (Divali; also known as the festival of lights); Islamic festivals such as Eid-al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan; and Sikh festivals such as Guru Nanak Jayanti (also known as Gurupurab), which celebrates the birth anniversary of the founder of Sikhism.