India celebrates Eid with prayers, feasts

New Delhi: Dressed in traditional finery, Muslims across India offered prayers at mosques and eidgahs on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr on Thursday, marking the end of the holy month of Ramzan.

In the national capital, a huge congregation gathered for the morning prayers at the 17th-century Jama Masjid in the walled city and exchanged greetings and embraces.

Markets around Jama Masjid, including Chandni Chowk, Meena Bazar and Dariba Kalan, wore a festive look and saw brisk shopping for the festival.

"The message of Islam is that people of all religions should live together with love and affection. This is the 'Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb'. There is no religion bigger than humanity," said Mohammad Gufran Afridi, a local resident, after offering prayers at the Jama Masjid.

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".

Eid was celebrated in Kerala and Ladakh on Wednesday, while it is being celebrated in the rest of the country on April 11.

Delhi Lt Governor V K Saxena said this year's Eid was perhaps for the first time in the history of Delhi that 'namaz' was offered inside mosques and not on the roads, and added that it was an excellent example of harmony and co-existence.

Saxena greeted the people on the occasion of Eid and said this showed that all the issues could be solved with mutual discussions and goodwill.

In a series of posts on X, Saxena said nowhere in Delhi namaz was offered on the road and that there was no "untoward incident" anywhere.

"Reiterating the greetings of Eid-ul-Fitr, I heartily thank the Imams of all the mosques and Eidgahs of Delhi and all our Muslim brothers for offering prayers inside the mosque premises," L-G Saxena wrote on X in Hindi.

"This is perhaps the first time in the history of Delhi that people offered 'namaz' entirely inside the mosques and Eidgahs and not on the roads. By doing this today, Delhi has set a great example of harmony and cooperation for the country," he said.

A festive atmosphere prevailed across Uttar Pradesh as people from the Muslim community celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr by offering prayers and feasting on delicacies.

In the state capital Lucknow, the Aishbagh Eidgah in the old city witnessed a huge gathering of people who adorned traditional attires and exchanged greetings and embraces.

Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, Minister of State for Minority Affairs Danish Azad Ansari, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and state Congress president Ajay Rai visited the eidgah and greeted the people there.

Speaking to reporters, Yadav said people from different communities celebrate festivals together and "this is the identity of our culture".

"I am hopeful that with our combined cultures we will take the country forward towards prosperity," Yadav said.

Besides Lucknow, large Eid congregations were seen in Kanpur, Bareilly, Moradabad, Prayagraj, Meerut, and Barabanki, officials said.

Eid-ul-Fitr namaz was offered at more than 31,000 eidgahs and mosques in the state, police said.

Following the prayers, 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'.

However, a "Free Palestine" protest during Eid prayers led to minor altercation with police in Aligarh. A heated exchange took place between police and some people attending Eid prayers at an eidgah who had put up a banner with the slogan "Free Palestine", police said.

Policemen posted there objected to the banner causing a minor altercation with the demonstrators but the matter was quickly defused, they said.

Police has secured CCTV footage of the incident, police said.

Delhi Gate police are investigating the matter and appropriate action will be taken on the basis of evidence, they said.

Eid was celebated in Telangana with traditional fervour and gaiety. Eid prayers were offered at Eidgahs and mosques with the devout attending special prayers in large numbers at Mir Alam Eidgah and Mecca Masjid among others in the city and in other parts of the state.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy visited the residence of senior Congress leader Mohammed Ali Shabbir in Hyderabad and greeted him.

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi, who offered prayers at Mir Alam Eidgah, conveyed his wishes on the occasion.

"Eid Mubarak to you and your families. May Allah accept our fasts, charity and good deeds in the month of Ramzan. I sincerely pray that we implement what we learnt during Ramzan. Allah is kind and he loves kindness," he said.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy and Governor S Abdul Nazeer on Thursday extended Eid-ul-Fitr greetings to the Muslims of the state.

The chief minister noted that Ramzan is a festival which increases the virtues of discipline, charity and others.

The governor observed that the teachings of the holy Quran have shaped society for ages, since the advent of Prophet Mohammed.

Jharkhand's biggest tribal festival 'Sarhul' and the Muslim community's Eid-ul-Fitr were celebrated with religious and traditional fervour amid elaborate security arrangements across the state on Thursday.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren, Governor C P Radhakrishnan and Union minister Arjun Munda greeted the citizens of the state on the occasion of Sarhul and Eid.