Bank holiday today, Feb. 19 -- All public and private banks in Maharashtra will be closed on Thursday, February 19, as the state will observe one of its most important days - Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Jayanti. This day is a public holiday in Maharashtra and hence there is a bank holiday in Maharashtra today.

Since there is a bank holiday today, lenders including SBI, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, PNB and Axis Bank will close their branches in Mumbai, Nagpur and the rest of Maharashtra. Bank holidays are decided by the Reserve Bank of India, where lenders follow the RBI bank holiday calendar that is released at the beginning of every year.

Bank holidays are based on national, regional and religious observances, depending on the state of resid...