 New Delhi : From Srinagar to Thiruvananthapuram and Mumbai to Kolkata, India celebrated Eid on September 21 with millions of Muslims congregating at prayer grounds and mosques to bow down as one before Allah, greeting each other with the traditional embrace and gathering at homes for the festive feast.
From the common person to the film star, Eid was celebrated with equal fervour by all. Celebrated on the first day of the Islamic month of Shawwal, Eid-ul-Fitr - Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity" while Fitr means "charity" - marks the end of the period of fasting during the holy month of Ramzan. Hindus, too, joined in the fun while observing the nine-day navratri, which culminates in Dussehra on September 28.
In Jammu and Kashmir, thousands gathered at grounds and mosques to offer a prayer for peace. Srinagar's famed Hazratbal shrine, the polo grounds and the Jamia mosque saw the largest number of devotees. Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and his father, Union minister Farooq Abdullah, offered prayers at the Hazratbal shrine.
The narrow lanes of old Delhi in the national capital were abuzz with activity right from morning. After their prayers, people visited each other's homes, exchanging gifts and sweets while enjoying delicacies like kebabs, biryani and specially made sevian, or vermicelli.
In Madhya Pradesh, clerics stressed on communal harmony and the need to root out terrorism in their sermons. Prayers were held at the main Namaz Eidgah in Bhopal, where Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan also visited to greet devotees. In Mumbai, children and adults met their Hindu friends and hugged each other with wishes of 'Eid mubarak'. Similar festivities were seen in Pune, Nashik, Malegaon, Aurangabad and Osmanabad districts of Maharashtra.
In Kolkata, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee made it a point to walk across to Muslim dominated pockets like Topsia, Park Circus and Kaurya in the eastern part of the city and greet people. Clerics in Uttar Pradesh had a noble cause in mind in their sermons - to help eradicate polio. Down south, while Hyderabad exuded the warmth of Eid through prayers, greetings and charity, Kerala saw people attending prayers in droves with even superstars joining in. Around 300,000 men and children gathered at the historic Mir Alam Eidgah in Hyderabad. Similar congregations were held at the Mecca Masjid, Public Garden mosque, the Eidgah Hockey Ground and the Military Grounds. Orissa's coastal town of Bhadrak, where half the population is Muslim, a grand prayer meeting was held that was attended by more than 10,000 people.
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