With Bakrid falling on August 12, Muslims in the city are gearing up to celebrate one of the two most important days in Islam. The festival is not just about biryani, as many of us think. Metrolife explains...
The significance of Bakrid
Eid-ul-Adha or Bakrid is one of the two main festivals in Islam. The annual festival is celebrated on the tenth day of Dhu'l-Hijjah (the twelfth month of Hijra calendar) in solidarity with the Hajj pilgrims in Mecca. Both Hajj and Bakrid aim to commemorate the sacrifice of Prophet Ibrahim, who lived thousands of years before Prophet Mohammed.
What happens on the day
Unlike Eid-ul-Fitr, Bakrid is a four-day festival. Donning new outfits, believers congregate in an open ground (Eidgah) or a mosque to perform special namaz. Afterwards, people sacrifice animals (typically from their livestock though nowadays animals are bought). After keeping aside some of the meat for personal consumption, the remaining is distributed in the community to ensure no one goes hungry.
Special food on Bakrid
People eat light before the namaz to keep space for the heavy food that is to follow. The womenfolk get busy from early morning, preparing the biriyani and keeping it in dum, to be taken out once prayers are done. The biriyani can be of any type — chicken, mutton, beef, fish, egg or veg. The meat of the sacrificed animal is used to prepare a side dish.
Kheer, or sevai, is an essential part of a Bakrid meal. This sweet dish is prepared with vermicelli and dry fruits. The colour, taste and preparation style varies from region to region.
While it is mostly prepared in liquid form, in some places the dry version is preferred. All guests coming to the house on Bakrid are greeted with a serving of sevai.
The meat and the sevai would be stored for at least three days after Eid. People experiment with the meat to prepare tasty dishes like different types of kebab, keema, kofta, paya (soup with bones) and rogan josh till the meat gets over.