For working professionals, students studying abroad, and remote teams collaborating across time zones, keeping track of Nepal's public holidays and festival schedules inside modern digital calendar apps (like Google Calendar, Apple Calendar, or Outlook) is a major productivity challenge.

Standard global calendars only display international holidays like Christmas or New Year's Day. They lack critical Nepalese events such as:

  • Government bank holidays (सार्वजनिक बिदा).
  • Major religious festivals (Ghatasthapana, Vijaya Dashami, Bhai Tika, Chhath, Maha Shivaratri, Buddha Jayanti).
  • Spiritual observances (Ekadashi fasting dates, Purnima, Aunsi).

In this tutorial, you will learn how to subscribe to a live, automatically updating Nepali Calendar iCal / ICS feed so that all Nepali holidays sync directly to your laptop, iPhone, Android device, and smartwatch.

What is an iCalendar (ICS / Webcal) Feed?

An iCalendar feed (file extension .ics or protocol webcal://) is an open global standard used by Google, Apple, and Microsoft to subscribe to external dynamic calendars.

Instead of manually typing every holiday into your personal schedule:

  1. You subscribe to a verified calendar feed URL once.
  2. Whenever the Government of Nepal gazettes new holidays or calendar dates for the upcoming Bikram Sambat year, the calendar updates automatically in the background on all your devices.

Method 1: Subscribing on Google Calendar (Web & Android)

To add the Nepali Calendar to Google Calendar (accessible on your browser and the Google Calendar app on Android and iOS):

Step-by-Step Instructions:

  1. Open your web browser on a laptop or desktop and go to calendar.google.com.
  2. On the left sidebar, locate the section labeled "Other calendars".
  3. Click the + (Add other calendars) button and select "From URL".
  4. In the URL of calendar input box, paste your Mero Miti iCal feed link:
```text https://meromiti.com/api/calendar/feed ``` (If you are signed in to Mero Miti with a custom filtered feed, use your personalized profile feed URL).
  1. Click "Add calendar".
  2. Customize Name & Color:
  • Find the newly added calendar under "Other calendars".
  • Click the three vertical dots ⋮ next to it.
  • Choose a distinctive color (such as Crimson Red or Teal) and rename it to "Nepali Holidays & Patro".
💡 TIP
Android Sync Note: If new events don't immediately appear in the Google Calendar app on your Android phone, open the phone's Google Calendar app → Settings → Tap the new calendar → Turn on "Sync".

Method 2: Subscribing on Apple Calendar (iPhone, iPad & Mac)

Apple's ecosystem makes subscribing to Webcal feeds seamless across macOS and iOS via iCloud sync.

On iPhone & iPad:

  1. Open your device Settings.
  2. Scroll down and tap Calendar → tap Accounts.
  3. Tap Add Account → select Other.
  4. Tap Add Subscribed Calendar.
  5. Paste the subscription URL:
```text https://meromiti.com/api/calendar/feed ```
  1. Tap Next.
  2. In the description, enter "Nepali Calendar".
  3. Ensure SSL is enabled, and tap Save.
  4. All events will instantly populate inside your native iOS Calendar app and sync to your Apple Watch.

On Mac (macOS):

  1. Open the Calendar application.
  2. Click File from the top menu bar → select New Calendar Subscription...
  3. Paste the URL: https://meromiti.com/api/calendar/feed
  4. Click Subscribe.
  5. Set Auto-refresh to "Every Day" or "Every Week" to ensure government holiday gazette revisions download automatically.
  6. Set Location to "iCloud" so it syncs across all your Apple devices.

Method 3: Subscribing on Microsoft Outlook (Windows & Web)

For enterprise users working in corporate environments:

  1. Open outlook.office.com or the Outlook desktop app.
  2. Switch to the Calendar view (icon in the left navigation dock).
  3. Click Add calendar (located above the mini-month view).
  4. In the left panel of the popup modal, select "Subscribe from web".
  5. Paste the Mero Miti calendar feed URL:
```text https://meromiti.com/api/calendar/feed ```
  1. Give the calendar a name (e.g., "Nepal Holidays - Bikram Sambat").
  2. Choose an icon and color, then click Import.

What Events are Included in the Feed?

Depending on your subscription settings on meromiti.com/profile, the feed can include:

Official Public Holidays: Gazetted bank and government closure dates with festival descriptions (For: Working professionals, banks, NGOs)
Major Cultural Festivals: Dashain (Ghatasthapana to Kojagrat Purnima), Tihar (5 Yamapanchak days), Chhath, Holi (For: Families, diaspora community)
Ekadashi Fasting Dates: Harisayani, Haribodhini, Nirjala, and all 24 annual Ekadashis (For: Spiritual practitioners)
Purnima & Aunsi Dates: Full Moon and New Moon celestial events (For: Astrological & religious observances)
Auspicious Muhurats: General wedding and Bratabandha season windows (For: Event planners, catering businesses)

Troubleshooting Common Sync Issues

1. Events are not updating on Google Calendar

Google Calendar crawls external subscription URLs approximately once every 8 to 24 hours. Changes published on the server will not appear instantaneously. To force a refresh on web, remove and re-add the subscription URL.

2. Timezone Offsets

Nepal Standard Time (NST) is UTC +5:45 without daylight saving time. All Mero Miti iCal events are published as All-Day Events or explicit UTC timestamps, ensuring they show up on the correct calendar date regardless of whether you reside in Nepal, the US, Australia, or the UK.

Summary

Subscribing to an active iCal feed eliminates the hassle of manually checking when Dashain falls or whether public offices in Nepal will be open next week. Bookmark this guide and share it with colleagues and friends managing cross-border schedules.