Dhaka: The Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of Muslims, was celebrated with the spirit of sacrifice and festivity in the capital city and elsewhere across the country amid erratic rains.
The eid celebrations began with morning prayers mostly in mosques and also Eidghas (open spaces for congregations) where there was no rain. UNB News Agency Reported.
In Dhaka, the main congregation of the Eid was held at the National Eidgah or the national open prayer ground at 8am under the auspices of Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).
President Abdul Hamid offered Eid-ul-Azha prayers along with hundreds of people from all walks of life there amid tight security.
Cabinet members, judges of the Supreme Court, members of parliament, senior political leaders and high civil and military officials also offered prayers at the main Eid Jamaat.
Special arrangements were also made for women to offer their Eid prayers at the National Eidgah.
Senior Pesh Imam of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque Maulana Mizanur Rahman conducted the Eid prayers.
After the prayers, President Abdul Hamid exchanged Eid greetings with devotees.
Besides, five Eid congregations were held at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque at 7 am, 8 am, 9 am, 10 am and at 10:45 am
As the devotees could not offer the Eid prayers at eidgahs of open spaces, most of the Jamaats were shifted to mosques. More than one eid jamaats were held at most city mosques.
After the prayers, the Muslims exchanged Eid greetings saying ‘Eid Mubarak’ and embracing each other.
The eid celebrations reached the peak with the Muslims sacrificing animals commemorating Hazrat Ibrahim’s devotion to Allah as illustrated by his readiness to give up his beloved son Hazrat Ismail.
Most families sacrificed cows or goats, with affluent few slaughtering dumbas and camels, but they faced difficulties in carrying out the slaughtering and process the meat of their sacrificed animals due to the rain.
They later shared the sacrificial meat with relatives and the poor.
However, the weather improved in the afternoon noon as the rain eased.
The Met Office recoded 25 millimeters of rainfall in Dhaka, while the highest 43mm being recorded in Mymensingh division, in 24 hours from 6pm on Monday to 6pm on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, President Hamid hosted a reception at Bangabhaban for a cross-section of people marking the holy Eid-ul-Azha.
Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury , Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, judges of the Supreme Court, members of parliament, the chiefs of the three services, editors, secretaries, vice chancellors of different universities, educationists, recipients of national awards, senior journalists, writers, poets, representatives of the business community, religious personalities, artistes, high civil and military officials joined the reception.
Ambassadors and high commissioners of different countries in Bangladesh and the chiefs of international agencies also attended the reception.
The President welcomed the guests, exchanged Eid greetings with them and wished them a prosperous life.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also exchanged Eid greetings with people from all walks of life, including party leaders and workers, judges and foreign diplomats, at her official residence Ganobhaban on the occasion.
Away at Sholakia in Kishoreganj, the presence of devotees was thin compared to previous years, where usually the country’s largest Eid Jamaat is held, reports UNB Kishoreganj correspondent.
Maulana Farid Uddin Masud led the 189th Eid congregation at Sholakia Eidgah at 9 am today.
The devotees faced a three-tier checking while entering the Eidgah.
On July 7, four people, including two policemen, a woman and a suspected assailant, died in a terror attack near the Sholakia Eidgah where hundreds of thousands had gathered as usual for Eid-ul-Fitr congregation. The incident took place within a week of Gulshan café attack in Dhaka.
Meanwhile, thousands of people left the capital for their village homes to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha with their families, giving the otherwise busy city a deserted look.
According to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), around 60 lakh people left Dhaka until Monday to enjoy the eid holiday with their relatives.
On the occasions, the national flag was hoisted atop government and non-government office buildings on the day. The thoroughfares and road islands were decorated with the national flags and banners inscribed with ‘Eid Mubarak’ in Bangla and Arabic.
Improved diets were served s in hospitals, jails, government child families, Chotomoni Nibash, centres for persons with disabilities, shelter homes, orphanages, vagrant welfare and destitute welfare centres.
The state-run Bangladesh Television, Bangladesh Betar, private TV and radio channels aired special programmes on the occasion.
Dhaka City Corporations (North and South) took steps to clear garbage and animal wastes from the streets immediately after the sacrifice of animals by city dwellers. But, it is likely to be difficult to remove the waste as those got scattered with rainwaters.
There had been waterlogging as well in different areas of the city as the drains were clogged with wastes of the sacrificial animals.
