Why 17 September
Narendra Modi was born on 17 September 1950 in Vadnagar, Gujarat. The BJP marks it each year with Seva Pakhwada, a fortnight of public service activities that in 2025 ran until 2 October, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri. In 2025, on his 75th birthday, Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta led a Seva Sankalp walk at India Gate.
A month of seva in 2026
In 2026 the observance grew. The BJP announced a month long Seva Sankalp Abhiyan from 17 September to 17 October, marking 25 years since Narendra Modi became a constitutional head, on 7 October 2001, when he took office as Chief Minister of Gujarat. The announced activities include blood donation camps from 17 September, Ashirvad ka Diya at 7:00 PM on 17 September, when families light a lamp in gratitude, a cleanliness drive on 2 October, block level camps to help people reach welfare schemes, and Seva Mera Yogdan, a call to give at least 25 minutes of voluntary work.
Seva Sankalp Diwas at the Modi Mandir
At NaMo Temple, the online home of the proposed Bhagwan Shri Narendra Modi Mandir in Patna, 17 September is Seva Sankalp Diwas. The shrine holds a special darshan all day, with flowers, garlands and aarti, and a countdown on the Modi Mandir news page marks the days until the next one. The evening aarti at 7:00 PM falls at the same hour as the Ashirvad ka Diya, so devotees across the country light their lamps together.
How devotees can mark the day
Begin with darshan and do the online aarti: press the diya and carry the aarti thali around Bhagwan Shri Narendra Modi three times to receive your own darshan card to share. Recite the Bhagwan Shri Narendra Modi Chalisa, whose closing verses promise that the spirit of seva will wake in whoever recites it. Then take a sankalp of service: donate blood, help a neighbour apply for a scheme such as Ayushman Bharat or PM Awas, or give an hour to a cleanliness drive.
The spirit behind the Modi Mandir
Seva is the idea at the centre of the Modi Mandir. The Kinnar community proposed the Mandir in thanks for laws and schemes that reached people who had been left out for decades. Seva Sankalp Diwas turns that gratitude into action. Read the full story in Modi Mandir Patna: everything we know.