Bengaluru: Fervour, gaiety and piety marked the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr on Saturday in Karnataka after the month-long Ramadan fasting by the devout.
Thousands of Muslims, including women and children, offered prayers at idgah maidan, mosques and seminaries in cities and towns across the state, greeted each other and feasted with families and friends.
Attired in new clothes and sporting different caps, the devout joined the imams in reciting verses from Koran, gifted the poor and needy alms and treated them to a feisty dawat (lunch).
In the state capital Bengaluru, the largest gathering was at the Chamarajpet idgah grounds in southwest where Eid prayers were conducted at a mass level.
Among the prominent people who participated in the event were Congress leaders Roshan Baig, Jaffer Sharief, Rehman Khan and Zameer Ahmed Khan of the Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S).
Deputy Chief Minister G. Parmeshwara, BJP leaders B.S. Yeddyurappa and R. Ashok also joined the prayer meeting and part took in the luncheon feast.
Hundreds of Muslims, young and old, flocked to nearby mosques across the city to offer prayers. Separate enclosures were made for the women devout to pray along with their men folk.
The fest was also celebrated at Ballari, Belagavi, Bidar, Chitradurga, Davengere, Gadag, Hubballi, Kalaburagi, Kolar, Mangaluru, Mysuru, Raichur, Vijayapura and Yadgir across the southern state.
Governor Vajubhai Vala, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy and JD-S supremo greeted the people on the occasion wished the devout “Eid Mubarak”.
IANS