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| The most important festivals for Muslims are the three Eids. These Eid-ul-Zuha or Bakri Eid is celebrated to commemorate the ritual sacrifice, Eid-ul-Fitr or Ramzan Eid is celebrated at the conclusion of the month of fasting and Eid-e-Milad or Milad-un-Nabi is celebrated to commemorate the birth of the Prophet. |
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| Eid is celebrated with a ritual namaaz (prayer) offering in a mosque. There are new clothes to wear, loads of gifts to exchange, elaborate spreads to feast on and of course, the mandatory dab of attar (rose essence) to complete the fragrant picture. |
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| Eid-ul-Fitr comes after the holy month of Ramzan while Eid-ul-Zuha or the Feast of Sacrifice comes after doing the great worship of Hajj. The word ‘Eid’ literally means a recurring event in Islam, a joyous recurring occasion. Eid-e-Milad which is popularly known as Barah Wafat (twelve death), is celebrated on the twelfth day of the third month Rabi-ul-Awwal according to the Muslim calendar. The Prophet’s death anniversary also falls on the same day, the word barah standing for the twelve days of the Prophet’s sickness. During these days, learned men deliver sermons in mosques, focussing on the life and noble deeds of the Prophet. In some parts of the country, a ceremony known as sandal rite is performed over the symbolic footprints of the Prophet engraved in stone. A representation of buraq, a horse on which the Prophet is believed to have ascended to heaven, is kept near the footprints and anointed with sandal paste or scented powder, and the house and casket containing these are elaborately decorated. Elegies or marsiyas are sung in memory of the last days of the Prophet. The twelfth day or the urs is observed quietly, in prayers and alms-giving. |
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