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Who brings the presents in India, and when is Christmas?
In India Christmas is a public holiday on Friday 25 December 2026, and Santa Claus is its best-known gift-bringer. Christians are about 2.3 percent of the population, yet many others join in as a festival of the whole street.
Who brings the presents, and when
Santa Claus
25 December
Who brings the presents, and when
Santa Claus · 25 December
Santa Claus is the gift-bringer of the Indian Christmas, which Christians, about 2.3 percent of the population, mark with midnight Mass on the night of 24 December. In North and North-West India the day is called Bada Din, the Big Day, and people plant trees on it. Christian households give sweets and cakes to their neighbours, so the festival reaches well beyond the church.
When Christmas is celebrated
Christmas Day, Friday 25 December 2026, is a public holiday. Many Christian families, especially Catholics, attend midnight Mass on Thursday 24 December and keep the day itself for family and food. Each state publishes its own holiday list, so check yours for the days around it.
Bada Din and the neighbours' plates
Bada Din, the Big Day, is how Christmas is known across North and North-West India, and people plant trees on the day. Christian households give sweets and cakes to their neighbours, which turns the festival into one for the whole street, not only for churchgoers.
Letters to Santa
India Post runs no published programme that answers children's letters to Santa. Its only seasonal notice found, from 2022, concerns cut-off dates for Christmas greeting mail. The letter page on this site prints a blank letter and makes a reply with the child's name, free and without sign-up.
Christmas holidays 2026 in India
The days that matter, with weekdays.
- Sun 29 Nov, 6, 13, 20 Dec
- The four Advent Sundays.
- Thu 24 Dec
- Christmas Eve. Midnight Mass.
- Fri 25 Dec
- Christmas Day (Bada Din), public holiday.
State holiday lists differ; check your state's gazette. Read 28 October 2026.
Officeholidays: Christmas Day in India 2026
More for an Indian Christmas
Booking a visit
- Santa Claus
- —
- 24 December
A real market, but clustered rather than national: Goa, Kerala, the Northeast and Mumbai's Christian communities, plus metro families who treat a Santa visit as a novelty at a children's party.
No rupee figure is published anywhere found. Directories list thirty to fifty providers across Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Ahmedabad, all contact-only.
No operator found names a lead time.
Common questions
- When is Christmas in India in 2026?
- Friday 25 December 2026. It is a public holiday. Midnight Mass is held on the night of Thursday 24 December.
- What is Bada Din?
- The Big Day, the name for Christmas in North and North-West India.
- Do Hindus celebrate Christmas in India?
- Some do. Christians are about 2.3 percent of the population, and Christian households share sweets and cakes with neighbours of every community, which is how many others take part.
- What do neighbours share at Christmas?
- Christian households give sweets and cakes to their neighbours. People also plant trees on Bada Din in the north.