Parents’ Worship Day in India Date in the current year: February 14, 2024

Asharam Baru is an Indian religious leader who preaches the existence of One Supreme Conscious in every human being following the traditions of Advaita Vedanta, a Hindu religious practice. He has numerous followers and several hundred ashrams (monasteries) in India and abroad.

The first celebration of Parents’ Warship Day was held at Asharam’s Yoga Vedanta Seva Samiti in Rourkela, Odisha on February 14, 2011. The holiday was conceived as an Indian alternative to Valentine’s Day, which Asharam considered to be a Western cultural invasion. Over 700 children and parents participated in the event.

In 2012, Asharam called on all Indians to celebrate the love between children and parents instead of romantic love and to observe Parents’ Worship Day instead of Valentine’s Day. His initiative was supported by many prominent politicians (including President Pranab Mukherjee) and celebrities. In 2014, the hashtags #ParentsWorshipDayOn14Feb and #HappyParentsWorshipDay trended on Twitter as a part of a media campaign to promote the new holiday.

In 2015, Chhattisgarh became the first Indian state to make Parents’ Worship Day an official school holiday. Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Jharkhand have since followed suit.