Bangladesh Muslims celebrate festival of sacrifice

DHAKA, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh Muslims Tuesday morning sacrificed millions of domestic animals and gave a major part of the meat to the poor as they celebrated Eid-ul-Azha, also known as the festival of sacrifice.

Before sacrificing animals such as sheep, cows, goats and camels at the beginning of the day, Muslims offered special prayers seeking divine blessings, peace, progress and prosperity in thousands of Eid congregations in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country.

Dhaka's main Eid congregation was held at the national Eidgah, or ground specified for saying Eid prayers, where the Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid and many ministers, lawmakers and elites of the society said their prayers.

Meanwhile, some 400 Eid congregations were also held at different areas of the capital city.

As always, the country's largest Eid congregation was held at Sholakia in Kishoreganj district, some 117 km northeast of the capital Dhaka, where hundreds of thousands of Muslims gathered from across the country to offer prayers.

The festival is celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Prophet Ismael as an act of obedience to Allah.

The Eid festival is celebrated on the 10th day of the month of the lunar Islamic calendar, after holy Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

Eid-ul-Azha also occurs approximately two months and 10 days after Eid al-Fitr, another major religious festival which marks the end of Muslims holy fasting month of Ramadan.

Some 6 million Dhaka dwellers have reportedly gone to their village homes this year to be with their near and dear ones during Eid-ul-Azha.

Every Muslim who has the financial means sacrifices animals and distributes the meat to family and the poor.

The Bangladeshi government declared a six-day holiday starting from Sunday on occasion of the feast, when people of all professions and classes leave behind their differences and exchange greetings with each other.

President Abdul Hamid on Tuesday hosted a reception in honor of foreign diplomats, top officials of the government and elites of the society on the occasion of Eid-ul-Azha at the presidential residence.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also exchanged Eid greetings with foreign diplomats, politicians, professionals, government officials and a cross section of the people at her official residence.

Additional forces have been deployed at all strategic points including commercial hubs and main Eid congregation grounds in major cities to shore up security on the day of Eid-ul-Azha.

The national flag of the country was hoisted atop government and non-government offices on the Eid day while the main streets of the Bangladesh capital were decorated with flags imprinted with "Eid Mubarak," meaning "blessed festival" or "may you enjoy a blessed festival."

Special diets reportedly will be served in hospitals, jails, government-owned welfare centers and shelter homes for children, socially-handicapped people and the destitute.