Eid-ul-Fitr celebrated across India with prayers and feasts
New Delhi: Eid-ul-Fitr was celebrated with great enthusiasm across India on Monday with lakhs of faithful offering prayers at eidgahs and mosques, embracing each other and exchanging greetings to mark the festival of peace and brotherhood.
Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end of the fasting month of Ramzan, culminating in an occasion for festivities, joy and togetherness, which was held peacefully amid tight security on Monday, barring a few incidents of skirmishes reported from different parts of the country.
In Delhi, a sea of devotees, including children and the elderly, offered prayers at the iconic Jama Masjid with four police teams along with paramilitary forces manning the 17th-century grand mosque.
After the month-long dawn-to-dusk fasts, people made a beeline for eateries and restaurants selling lip-smacking dishes and also visited their neighbours, friends and relatives and shared sweet milk-based desserts like 'sewai' and 'kheer'.
Greeting people on Eid, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a post on X, "May this festival enhance the spirit of hope, harmony and kindness in our society. May there be joy and success in all your endeavours. Eid Mubarak!"
Eid prayers were held peacefully across Uttar Pradesh, including in Sambhal, Lucknow, Aligarh, Varanasi and Rampur, under heightened security and social media monitoring, with Artificial Intelligence-powered drones carrying out real-time surveillance.
In Kashmir Valley, the largest congregation of devotees assembled at the Hazratbal Shrine on the banks of the Dal lake.
Dressed in their best, Muslims of all ages and genders assembled at eidgahs and mosques in all the districts of the Valley to offer prayers.
However, authorities did not allow Eid prayers at the eidgah and the historic Jama Masjid in the old Srinagar city, with a large posse of security forces deployed at both places.
The chief priest of Kashmir, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who was scheduled to deliver the Eid sermon at the eidgah, claimed that he was placed under house arrest ahead of the congregational prayers.
"I am deeply pained and strongly condemn the authorities decision to once again deny the Muslims of Kashmir the basic right to offer Eid prayers at eidgah and Jama Masjid, which have been closed down and I have been detained at home," he said.
Eid was also celebrated with religious fervour and traditional gaiety across the Jammu region amid tight security arrangements.
The largest congregation was held at the eidgah on Residency Road in Jammu, followed by the Mecca Masjid and the Jama Masjid Khatikan Talab, where scores of Muslims offered Eid prayers.
Meanwhile, a major traffic jam was witnessed on the Malpura-Kekri road in Rajasthan's Tonk district after thousands of Muslims gathered for a procession after Eid prayers.
The highway remained closed for nearly an hour before it was cleared. The authorities have ruled out any communal tension.
In Haryana's Gurugram, a clash between two groups from the same community at a village in Nuh after Eid prayers left more than five people injured.
According to police, the incident was a fallout of an old rivalry. A police team has been deployed in the village to ensure peace, officials said.
The festival was celebrated with traditional fervour across Gujarat as Muslims offered prayers at mosques and greeted each other.
At the historic Jama Masjid in Ahmedabad, a large number of Muslims gathered to offer Eid prayers. No untoward incident was reported during the day, police said. Indore in Madhya Pradesh witnessed a heart-warming scene of communal harmony as a Hindu family transported the city Qazi to the main Idgah on a horse carriage for the Eid prayers in keeping with a 50-year-old tradition.
Satyanarayan Salvadia picked up Mohammad Ishrat Ali from his Rajmohalla residence and took him to the main eidgah in Sadar Bazar on a horse carriage and dropped him home after the mass prayers.
Salvadia said his father Ramchandra Salvadia started the tradition about 50 years ago, which he has been taking forward after the latter's death in 2017.
In Jharkhand, people of all ages flocked to their nearest mosques to offer namaaz, signifying the end of Ramzan. The festive spirit was palpable as communities came together to celebrate the occasion.
Eid was celebrated across Telangana with the faithful offering special prayers at mosques and eidgahs.
The Mir Alam Eidgah in Hyderabad saw a large congregation of people offering prayers, with city MP and AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi conveying his wishes on the occasion.
In Tamil Nadu, people thronged mosques and designated locations across the state to offer Eid prayers.
The festival was celebrated with usual fervour with near and dear ones greeting each other.
The Muslim community in Kerala celebrated Eid with religious fervour and festivities, reinforcing the message of brotherhood, compassion and humanity. The faithful thronged mosques and specially arranged eidgahs across the state in the morning to offer prayers.
People could be seen hugging each other and exchanging pleasantries after offering prayers, while traditional feasts were prepared in the Muslim houses across the state with an array of delicacies.
In Nagaland, thousands of people dressed in white offered prayers at the eidgah in the state's commercial hub Dimapur and at the Jame Masjid in state capital Kohima.
