About Father's Day
Father's Day is a secular day for thanking fathers and the men who raised us. India marks it on the third Sunday of June, the same day as the US and UK, and in 2027 it falls on Sunday, 20 June 2027. It began in Spokane, Washington, in 1910 and is not a public holiday in India; it is kept in homes, schools and family WhatsApp groups.
Father's Day in India is not a public holiday, and since it always falls on a Sunday the question rarely comes up. It arrived as an American custom and kept the American date, the third Sunday of June, so it always lands between 15 and 21 June. In years when 21 June is a Sunday, as it was in 2026, it shares the day with the International Day of Yoga and World Music Day.
How did Father's Day start?
The day began with a daughter in Spokane, Washington. In 1909 Sonora Smart Dodd sat through a Mother's Day sermon and thought of her father, William Jackson Smart, a Civil War veteran and farmer who had raised her and her five younger brothers after their mother died in 1898. She took the idea of a day for fathers to the local YMCA and the Spokane Ministerial Alliance.
She asked for 5 June, her father's birthday. The ministers wanted more time to prepare their sermons, so the first Father's Day was held on 19 June 1910, the third Sunday of that month. At Dodd's church, girls handed out red roses for living fathers and white roses for fathers who had died. Some families still wear them that way.
The idea spread slowly. President Lyndon Johnson issued the first presidential proclamation for the third Sunday of June in 1966, and Richard Nixon made it a permanent annual observance in 1972. Dodd died in Spokane in 1978, aged 96. A US Census Bureau fact sheet gives the first date as 17 June 1910, but that was a Friday; the Sunday services were on the 19th.
India already had days for fathers, in a different key
Indian traditions honour fathers mostly through remembrance. Hindu families remember fathers and other ancestors who have died during Pitru Paksha, a sixteen-lunar-day period that usually falls in September or October and ends on Mahalaya Amavasya. The rites include shraddha, tarpan (offering water) and pinda daan (offering balls of rice). A father's death anniversary is the other fixed day. Neither is a day for "happy" wishes.
Families with roots in Nepal have a day for living fathers too. Kushe Aunsi, also called Gokarna Aunsi or "buwa ko mukh herne din" (the day to see your father's face), falls on the new moon of Bhadra, in late August or early September. Sons and daughters, married daughters especially, go home with sweets, food and gifts. Many visit the Gokarneshwor Mahadev temple near Kathmandu, and those whose fathers have died perform shraddha.
The June Father's Day has no religious content, so nobody of any faith is shut out of it, and nobody is obliged to keep it.
Father's Day dates around the world
If your father lives abroad, or you do, the June date may not be his.
| Where | When | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| India, US, UK, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka | Third Sunday of June | Same day as India |
| UAE, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon | 21 June | A fixed date, so it can fall on a working day |
| Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Papua New Guinea | First Sunday of September | Early spring in the southern hemisphere |
| Germany | Ascension Day, a Thursday in May or early June | Vatertag. Groups of men walk or cycle with a handcart of food and beer |
| Italy, Spain, Portugal | 19 March | The feast of St Joseph |
| Brazil | Second Sunday of August | Dia dos Pais |
| Taiwan | 8 August | Eight-eight, "ba ba", sounds like dad |
| Thailand | 5 December | Birthday of the late King Bhumibol. People wear yellow and give canna flowers |
| South Korea | 8 May | Parents' Day, for both parents |
| Norway, Sweden, Finland | Second Sunday of November | Early winter |
| Nepal | Kushe Aunsi, new moon of Bhadra | Late August or early September |
Writing to a father who does not do sentiment
Many Indian fathers show love through logistics: the taxi booked for your 5 a.m. flight, the fees paid without a word, the call to check that you reached. Plenty are awkward hearing it back in words, and a card-style message may get a thumbs-up and nothing else.
Be specific. "Thank you for everything" is easy to skim past. "Thank you for waiting outside the exam centre for three hours in May" is not.
Use the word you use at home, in the language you speak with him. A line of Hindi or Tamil sounds like you. A paragraph of formal English sounds like a forward.
Offer time instead of a speech. "Sunday lunch, my treat, your choice of place" is a complete message. Keep it short if he is the type: two lines he reads twice beat twenty he scrolls past.
- Papa, Pitaji, Bauji
- Common in Hindi-speaking homes; Pitaji and Bauji are more formal
- Baba
- Used in Bengali and Marathi homes, among others
- Appa
- Tamil and Kannada
- Nanna
- Telugu
- Achan
- Malayalam, though usage varies by community
- Bapa
- Odia
- Deuta
- Assamese
- Papaji, Bapu
- Punjabi
- Bapuji, Pappa
- Gujarati
- Abbu, Abba
- Urdu-speaking and many Muslim homes
What to write, and to whom
Many people were raised in part by a grandfather, a chacha or mama, an elder brother or a teacher, and the day is a fair excuse to thank them. Teachers' Day on 5 September is the usual day for teachers, but a note to a mentor who stood in for a parent is rarely misread.
Happy Father's Day, Papa. I still check the tyre pressure before every long drive because of you. Lunch on Sunday is on me, and you are not allowed to pay.
Happy Father's Day, Baba. No speech, I promise. Just thank you, for all of it.
Happy Father's Day, Papa. Thank you for making me feel at home from the first day, and for every cricket argument since. Wishing you good health and a slow Sunday.
Happy first Father's Day! Six weeks in and you can already tell the hungry cry from the sleepy one. She is lucky to have you. Sleep when you can.
Happy Father's Day. I have watched you do the school run, the tiffin and every parent-teacher meeting on your own, and your kids have noticed too.
Happy Father's Day, Chachu. You never had to step in, and you never once made me feel that you had. Thank you.
Thinking of you and your dad today. I still remember how he insisted on dropping all of us home after every party. I'm here if you want to talk about him.
Happy Father's Day from Toronto, Papa. Sending this before your morning walk. I'll call on Sunday evening, your time.
For a single father, leave the children's mother out of the message unless you know how he feels about it. Widowers, divorced fathers and fathers who adopted alone have very different stories. Dodd's own father was a widower.
For someone whose father has died, the first Father's Day is often the hardest, and a feed full of tributes makes it louder. A short message that names their father is kinder than silence. If the loss is recent, our condolence page covers what to say.
Gifts, calls and office etiquette
Do
- Call, even if you have already sent a message. For many fathers the call is the gift.
- Pick something he keeps putting off buying for himself, such as new reading glasses, walking shoes or a health check-up.
- Do the errand he keeps postponing: the insurance renewal, the bank KYC, the leaking tap.
- In an office group, post one general wish and leave it there.
Avoid
- Don't ask colleagues what they are doing for their dad. Some have lost him, some are estranged, and some are waiting to become fathers.
- Don't send "Happy Father's Day" to someone in their first year after their father's death. Say you are thinking of them.
- Don't press someone who doesn't mark the day. Plenty of families never have.
How to wish someone on Father's Day
A good Father's Day message names one thing he actually did, said or taught, rather than listing virtues. Many Indian fathers are uneasy with open sentiment, so a short line in the language you speak at home, a shared memory or a plan to spend time together lands better than an essay. For a father-in-law, keep it warm and respectful. For anyone whose father has died, drop "happy" and simply remember him with them.
Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.
Language tip: English, Hindi + recipient language.
When is Father's Day in each year?
Father's Day falls on a different date each year. In 2027 it falls 1 day earlier than in 2026.
- 2026
- 2027
- 2028
Frequently asked questions
Who started Father's Day, and why is it in June?
Sonora Smart Dodd of Spokane, Washington, started Father's Day to honour her father, a Civil War veteran who raised six children after his wife died. The first one was held on 19 June 1910, the third Sunday of June, because local ministers needed more time than her father's 5 June birthday allowed.
Is Father's Day in India on the same day as in the US and UK?
Yes. India, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada all mark Father's Day on the third Sunday of June, so it always falls between 15 and 21 June.
When is Father's Day in Australia, the UAE and Germany?
Australia and New Zealand mark Father's Day on the first Sunday of September. The UAE keeps a fixed date, 21 June, and Germany marks it on Ascension Day, a Thursday in May or early June that moves with Easter.
What should I say on Father's Day to someone whose father has died?
Leave out "happy" and say you are thinking of them and of their father, ideally with one thing you remember about him. A short, specific message is kinder than a long one, and offering to listen helps more than offering advice.
How do I wish my father-in-law on Father's Day?
Use whatever you call him to his face, whether Papa, Papaji or Uncle, and thank him for one specific thing, such as how he welcomed you into the family. Keep the tone warm and respectful, and end with a wish for his health.
Does India have a traditional Father's Day of its own?
Not in the June sense. Hindu families remember fathers and ancestors who have died during Pitru Paksha in September or October, and families with Nepali roots mark Kushe Aunsi, a day for living fathers on the new moon of Bhadra in late August or early September.
Last verified by the Kehdoo team on .