60 original Hindi congratulations wishes, sorted by the news: shaadi aur sagaai, naya ghar ya gaadi, beta ya beti hone par, naukri aur promotion, dukaan ya business ka uddhaatan, plus formal lines for office and relatives and a Hinglish section for WhatsApp. Devanagari lines copy with their romanized version. Short version: say badhai ho for the news, shubhkaamnayein for what comes next, and add one real detail.
Badhai, mubarak or shubhkaamnayein — which one?
Hindi has three ways to say congratulations and they are not interchangeable.
बधाई हो (badhai ho) — the everyday family word. Safe for everything from a result to a new scooter.
मुबारक हो (mubarak ho) — warmer and softer, borrowed from Urdu. It suits weddings, births, Eid and anything that feels like a blessing.
हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ (hardik shubhkaamnayein) — formal. Office emails, printed invitations, a message to your father's colleague.
The trick most good messages use: badhai for what happened, shubhkaamnayein for what comes next. "Nayi naukri ki badhai, aur aage ke safar ki shubhkaamnayein" covers both and sounds like someone who thought about it.
Exam results have their own page — the exam pass badhai bank covers board results, JEE/NEET and sarkari naukri — so this one deliberately leaves them out. For English lines across every kind of news, the companion is 70 congratulations messages.
शादी और सगाई पर (10)
नया घर या नई गाड़ी (8)
बेटा या बेटी होने पर (8)
The longer version of this lane — first-week wishes, lines for grandparents, captions for the hospital photo — lives in new baby congratulations messages.
नौकरी और प्रमोशन पर (8)
दुकान, बिज़नेस या नए काम की शुरुआत (7)
औपचारिक — दफ़्तर, रिश्तेदार और कार्ड के लिए (6)
For a boss, an elder relative, a printed card or the family group with forty uncles in it.
Hinglish — WhatsApp aur status ke liye (13)
Romanized reads best on WhatsApp status — it survives the crop, renders on every phone, and nobody has to switch keyboards to reply.
When badhai deserves a front page
In an Indian family, good news is announced by phone, confirmed in the group, and celebrated with a mithai box. The message gets lost somewhere between the forty "badhai ho" replies from relatives.
For the news that deserves more, Lovely's Congratulations template prints a one-copy newspaper, The Daily Legend. They snap the band on a rolled paper, open a front page with their name in the headline and a photo, and read two to four short news stories that you write — in Hindi, English or both. ("Mithai shop sold out. Kaju katli demand up 400%" is the default, and it works.) They tap the page to stamp it, shake a champagne bottle until it pops, and land on a final edition with their name. ₹59 one-time, a private link that opens on any phone.
"Hindi is the language people bless in," says Lovely's founder. "Put that blessing in a headline and the whole family forwards it."
Make it yours: the one edit
Put one real name or place inside the blessing.
"Naye ghar ki badhai" → "Indore wale naye ghar ki badhai — ab Diwali wahin manegi"
"Shaadi mubarak" → "Riya aur Kabir, shaadi mubarak — college ki canteen se mandap tak"
"Nayi dukaan ki shubhkaamnayein" → "Sharma Sweets ki nayi branch ki shubhkaamnayein"
What NOT to do: don't ask "kitne ka liya?" about the house, "kitna package hai?" about the job, or "ab doosra kab?" about the baby — not in the badhai message, ideally not ever.
Frequently asked questions
How do you say congratulations in Hindi?
The three common forms are "badhai ho" (बधाई हो), "mubarak ho" (मुबारक हो) and "hardik shubhkaamnayein" (हार्दिक शुभकामनाएँ). Badhai is the everyday family word, mubarak carries a warmer Urdu softness and suits weddings and births, and hardik shubhkaamnayein is the formal register for office mail, invitations and printed cards.
What is the difference between badhai and shubhkaamnayein?
Badhai congratulates something that has already happened — a result, a wedding, a birth. Shubhkaamnayein are good wishes for what comes next. Many of the best Hindi messages use both: badhai for the news, shubhkaamnayein for the road ahead.
What is a good Hindi congratulations message for a wedding?
Something that blesses the pair rather than the event: "Aap dono ka saath yun hi bana rahe, har din thoda aur gehra hota rahe." Wedding messages in Hindi land best when they mention both names and the family, because an Indian wedding is congratulated as a joining of households.
Should I send Hindi wishes in Devanagari or Hinglish?
Devanagari for elders, printed cards and formal family groups, where the script itself reads as respect. Hinglish for friends and WhatsApp status, because it is quicker to read and reply to. Every Devanagari line on this page copies with its romanized version attached.
Can I send something more than a Hindi message?
Yes. Lovely's Congratulations template prints a one-copy newspaper with their name in the headline, short news stories you write in Hindi or English, stamps they tap on, and a champagne bottle they shake until it pops. It is ₹59 one-time and opens from a WhatsApp link.
