Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the biggest religious festivals of the Muslims, will be celebrated across Bangladesh today as the moon of Shawwal month of 1445 Hijri was sighted in the country鈥檚 sky Wednesday evening.
Earlier on Tuesday evening, religious affairs minister Md Faridul Haque Khan after attending a meeting of the National Moon-Sighting Committee at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque announced that the Eid-ul-Fitr would be celebrated on Thursday as the new moon was not sighted on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people left Dhaka and its adjacent areas for their ancestral homes in villages in different districts to celebrate the eid with their near and dear ones.
Eid-ul-Fitr is an Arabic word meaning 鈥榝estival of breaking of the fast鈥�.
The festival marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic calendar.
Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk during the holy month.
On the Eid day morning, usually, Muslim devotees gather at mosques and prayer venues to perform Eid prayers and greet each other.
The festival is celebrated by visiting residences of friends and relatives, hosting food parties and sharing sweets.
The occasion is seen as a time of forgiveness and giving thanks to Allah for helping people to complete their month-long spiritual fasting.
Many Muslims distribute cash and food to the less fortunate ones.
The main jamaat of the Eid-ul-Fitr will be held at the National Eidgah on the High Court premises in Dhaka at 8.30am today.
If the congregation cannot be held due to inclement weather or any other unavoidable reason, it will be held at 9:00am at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque.
Another congregation of the holy Eid-ul-Fitr prayers will be held at 8:30am at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad on the Eid day.
Besides, five Eid jamaats (congregations) will be held at the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque. The first Eid jamaat will be held at 7:00am while the next four Jamaats will be held at 8:00am, 9:00am, 10:00am and 10:45am respectively.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin is expected to offer the prayers of Eid-ul-Fitr along with hundreds of Muslim devotees from all walks of life at the National Eidgah Maidan.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate messages greeting the country鈥檚 people as well as the Muslims across the world on the occasion of the Eid-ul-Fitr.
The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in a statement greeted the country鈥檚 people and world Muslim community on the occasion of Eid-ul-fitr.
President Mohammed Shahabuddin and his spouse Dr Rebeka Sutana will exchange greetings with the cross section of people at Bangabhaban from 10:00am to 11:30am on Thursday on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will exchange greetings with people, including party leaders and workers, judges and foreign diplomats, at her official Ganabhaban residence on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Sheikh Hasina, also the Awami League chief, will first exchange Eid greetings with the people of all classes and professions from 10:00am today and with judges and foreign diplomats later, BSS reported, quoting PM鈥檚 speech writer M Nazrul Islam.
The five-day vacation on the occasion of the Eid-ul-Fitr and Pahela Baishakh began on Wednesday.
Different television channels and radio stations have planned special programmes to mark the Eid0ul-Fitr.