Mumbai, Jun 16 (IANS): Lakhs of Muslims celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr, marking the end of the 30-day rigorous fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, with joy and religious fervour in Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra on Saturday.
The faithful, clad in their festival finery, congregated at the 600-plus mosques in the city and other parts of the state to offer the special Eid namaaz, in many areas braving heavy rains.
The biggest congregation was witnessed at the Jama Masjid, instead of the Azad Maidan, on account of rain fears.
After the prayers, people hugged each other in mosques, marquees, halls and homes greetings of 'Eid Mubarak' and offered each other the special Eid dish 'Sheer-Korma', prepared with milk, vermicelli and dry fruits.
Large numbers of Muslims gathered on roads and housing complexes in pockets like Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Jogeshwari, Andheri, Santacruz, Bandra, Mahim, Mazagaon, Colaba, Byculla, Kurla, Ghatkopar and Bhandup greeting each other Eid Mubarak.
While most sects celebrated Eid on Saturday, some others like the Dawoodi Bohra community celebrated it on Thursday.
Reports of Eid celebrations came in from Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Beed, Latur, Nashik, Aurangabad and other areas with significant Muslim populations in Maharashtra.
Later in the afternoon, Muslims were joined in by their brethren from other communities in greeting them and savouring the 'Sheer-Korma'.
With the upcoming election year, most political parties took the occasion to create their goodwill on the occasion.
Huge hoardings and banners of most political parties including the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena, the Congress, Nationalist Congress Party, Samajwadi Party, Republican Party of India and other local parties were erected in Muslim localities with Eid greetings.
Besides mosques, homes in many Muslim areas were illuminated and decked up with colourful fairy lights and flowers.
Maharashtra Governor C.V. Rao and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and other leaders from different parties greeted the people on the occasion of Eid.
As Eid fell on a weekend, many people from cities like Mumbai, Thane and Pune grabbed the opportunity for quick two-day outing with their families at various beach and hill resorts in the state.