Ambedkar Jayanti 2028: Date, History & Significance

Large processions, cultural programmes and public meetings are held; his statues are garlanded and cleaned across the country, and huge crowds visit Chaitya Bhoomi in Mumbai (his memorial) and Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur. The Parliament and state assemblies pay tribute at his portrait. The day affirms the constitutional values he championed — equality, liberty, fraternity and the annihilation of caste.

Born into a Mahar family treated as untouchable, Ambedkar overcame severe discrimination to earn doctorates from Columbia and the London School of Economics and to qualify at the bar. He led satyagrahas for temple entry and access to water, edited newspapers, founded political parties and educational institutions, drafted the Constitution's guarantees of equality and against untouchability, and in 1956 converted to Buddhism with lakhs of followers. He died weeks later, on 6 December 1956.

Source: Government of India / United Nations designation and official observance

Ambedkar Jayanti was observed by his followers from the 1930s and is now a gazetted holiday in most states and, since 2015, marked officially by the Union government; the UN Secretariat has held commemorations since 2016. He was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1990.

• Wikipedia

1. Crowds gather at Chaitya Bhoomi in Mumbai and Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur, and at Ambedkar statues across the country, to garland them at midnight and through the day.
2. Processions with blue flags, songs and speeches celebrate his life as the chief architect of the Constitution and a leader of the Dalit movement.
3. Buddhist families hold gatherings at viharas, and many institutions hold readings of the Constitution's Preamble.

• Nationwide, especially Maharashtra, UP, Bihar, Punjab. Processions, meetings and cultural programmes; pilgrimages to Chaitya Bhoomi (Mumbai) and Deekshabhoomi (Nagpur); tributes in Parliament and the assemblies.

• Community meals — Sweets and meals are shared at gatherings and processions.

Ambedkar Jayanti falls on Friday, 14 April 2028. Birth of Dr B. R. Ambedkar.

at sunrise

Ambedkar Jayanti is kept on 14 April (fixed). It follows the Gregorian civil calendar and does not move.

The date is set by the Hindu lunisolar calendar and shifts against the Gregorian year.