About Valentine’s Day
Valentine's Day is kept on 14 February, and in 2027 it falls on Sunday, 14 February 2027. It is named after a third-century Roman martyr, though the romantic customs attached to the date only appear from the fourteenth century. In India it spread in the 1990s and is now marked mostly by young couples, with cards, flowers and dinners.
Who was Saint Valentine, and why 14 February?
Very little about Saint Valentine is actually known. Church records list a Valentine who was killed for his faith and buried on the Via Flaminia in Rome on 14 February, probably in the third century, and beyond the name and the burial the details are legend rather than record.
Two things people repeat are worth correcting. The line that Pope Gelasius set up the feast in 496 to replace the Roman festival of Lupercalia is disputed by historians, since the document usually quoted names Saint George and not Valentine. And in 1969 the Catholic Church took Valentine off the General Roman Calendar because so little was known about him, though he is still listed as a saint.
The romance came later. The oldest clear link between 14 February and love in literature is in Geoffrey Chaucer's writing in the fourteenth century, where birds choose their mates on Saint Valentine's day. Card-sending grew in England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and became an industry from there.
How did Valentine's Day become popular in India?
Until the 1980s the day meant almost nothing in India outside a few city families. It spread in the 1990s, after the economy opened up, when cable television, foreign music channels and a growing card and gift trade put 14 February in front of a young urban middle class.
The pushback started almost as soon as the flowers did. Groups including the Shiv Sena, Bajrang Dal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Sri Ram Sena have raided card shops and confronted couples, calling the day foreign. The attack on a Mangalore pub in January 2009 led to the Pink Chaddi Campaign, in which about 34,000 people posted pink underwear to the group that led it. Alternatives have been proposed from time to time: Chhattisgarh declared 14 February as Matru-Pitru Diwas, a day to honour parents, in 2015, and in 2023 the Animal Welfare Board of India appealed for a Cow Hug Day on that date and withdrew the appeal within days. In Tamil Nadu, Dravidian groups have used 14 February to promote inter-caste marriages.
None of this makes the day illegal anywhere in India. It does mean that in some towns couples prefer a quiet evening at home to a restaurant with a heart-shaped balloon at the door.
What is Valentine's week, and what are the days?
Indian shops, radio stations and social media run a full week up to 14 February. It is a retail idea rather than a tradition, and it is followed mostly by school and college students, but it is what people search for in the first week of February.
| Date | Day | What people usually do |
|---|---|---|
| 7 February | Rose Day | A single rose, red for love, yellow for friendship |
| 8 February | Propose Day | Saying it out loud, or a note passed in class |
| 9 February | Chocolate Day | A bar or a box, swapped between friends as often as couples |
| 10 February | Teddy Day | Soft toys, mostly among teenagers |
| 11 February | Promise Day | A written promise, and a lot of screenshots |
| 12 February | Hug Day | Hugs among friends and family, not only partners |
| 13 February | Kiss Day | Quietly skipped by most people in India |
| 14 February | Valentine's Day | Cards, flowers, dinner, a film, a handwritten letter |
What should you write in a Valentine's message?
Write one true detail. The way they make tea, the thing they said when you failed an interview, the year they moved cities for you. Detail is what makes a card feel written rather than bought.
Ten years in, and you still hand me the cup of tea I never ask for. That is the whole love story. Happy Valentine's Day.
Happy Valentine's Day. Too early for big words, so here is a small one: I like who I am around you.
Happy Valentine's Day. Two cities, three calls a day, one plan. Counting down to April.
We started as strangers who were told to make it work. Somewhere along the way it stopped being work. Happy Valentine's Day.
Happy Valentine's Day. This year took a lot out of you and you kept going. Whatever comes next, I am on your side of it.
Happy Valentine's Day to the two people who taught me what it looks like when someone stays. Thirty-two years and still arguing about the AC setting.
Happy Valentine's Day to my emergency contact, my honest critic and the person who never lets me text my ex.
I have rewritten this four times. So, simply: I like you, and I would like to take you out this Saturday.
Do
- Send it privately. Not every relationship in India is known to parents, landlords or colleagues, and a public post can create real trouble for someone.
- Ask before you plan a big public gesture. Proposals on camera put the other person on the spot in front of strangers.
- Include a handwritten line, even inside a bought card. It is the part people keep.
- Keep a thought for friends who are alone that week. A short message to them costs nothing.
Avoid
- Don't give romantic cards, flowers or gifts to a colleague or junior. In a workplace it reads as pressure, whatever you meant.
- Don't send anything to an ex "just as friends" without knowing they want to hear from you.
- Don't lean on film dialogue and forwarded shayari. Your own plain sentence beats a famous one.
- Don't mark the day loudly for someone who has recently lost a partner or come out of a marriage.
If you are marking something longer than a year, see Wedding Anniversary, and for the earlier steps there is Engagement and Wedding. For a partner you have not seen in months, Miss You may fit better than a Valentine's card.
How to wish someone on Valentine’s Day
A Valentine's message works when it is particular. Name a habit, a joke or a moment only the two of you share, rather than borrowing film lines. Match the tone to where the relationship stands: a new one wants lightness, a long marriage wants gratitude for something specific. In India, think about privacy too, since not every relationship is known to parents or colleagues, and send the message where it will only be read by the person it is for.
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 Valentine’s Day in 2026 and 2027?
Valentine’s Day is on 14 Feb every year. Only the weekday changes.
- 2026
- 2027
Frequently asked questions
When is Valentine’s Day in 2027?
Valentine’s Day 2027 falls on Sunday, 14 February 2027.
What are the seven days of Valentine's week?
Valentine's week in India runs Rose Day on 7 February, Propose Day on the 8th, Chocolate Day on the 9th, Teddy Day on the 10th, Promise Day on the 11th, Hug Day on the 12th and Kiss Day on the 13th, ending with Valentine's Day on 14 February. It is a marketing calendar rather than a tradition, and it is followed mainly by school and college students.
Is Valentine's Day a Christian festival?
Not in any practical sense. It is named after a Roman Christian called Valentine who was killed for his faith, but the Catholic Church removed him from the General Roman Calendar in 1969 because so little is known about him, and the romantic customs are a later, secular development traced to Chaucer's poetry in the fourteenth century.
Why do some people in India object to Valentine's Day?
Some political and religious groups treat 14 February as a foreign import and have protested against it since the late 1990s, occasionally by raiding shops or confronting couples. Chhattisgarh renamed the date Matru-Pitru Diwas, a day to honour parents, in 2015, and other alternative observances have been suggested, but the day is not banned anywhere in India.
Why is 14 February also a day of mourning in India?
On 14 February 2019, a suicide bombing at Lethapora in Pulwama district, Jammu and Kashmir, killed 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel. Many Indians mark the anniversary with tributes, which is why public celebration on that date can strike some people as insensitive.
Is it appropriate to give a Valentine's gift to a colleague?
No, not a romantic one. Flowers, hearts or cards sent to a colleague, and especially to someone junior to you, read as pressure however they were meant. A box of chocolates left in the office pantry for everyone is the safe version.
What can I write for a first Valentine's Day together?
Keep it light and true rather than grand. One specific thing you like about being around them, and one small plan for the coming months, says more than a declaration, and it does not put weight on a relationship that is still new.
Last verified by the Kehdoo team on .