Kathmandu, Jun 26 (EFE).- Followers of Islam across the countries of South Asia Monday celebrated the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims abstain from food and sexual activity from dawn until sunset.
Muslims living in the Himalayan republic of Nepal Monday morning celebrated Eid by meeting for prayers in Kathmandu's huge Kashmiri Masjid mosque.
Devotees began arriving at the large central mosque around 8 am local time, and prayers started about an hour later, an epa journalist reports.
At the peak of Monday morning's prayer session, about 10,000 people were gathered in the Kashmiri mosque, one of the largest in Nepal and which sits just a short walk from the Nepalese capital's iconic Kathmandu Durbar Square, a former royal palace.
Once prayers ended around 9.30 am, people exchanged greetings and hugs.
Similar Eid scenes played out in other parts of South Asia, and hundreds of kilometers south of Kathmandu in Calcutta of eastern India, thousands of Muslims met Monday morning inside one of the city's oldest mosques.
In this southern Calcutta mosque, built more than a century ago, as devotees told epa, more than 4,000 people met for Eid prayers.
The mood was reportedly upbeat following the prayers, with people eagerly explaining to epa the history of the mosque and the local area.
Some 250 kilometers northeast of Calcutta, in the bustling Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, thousands of Muslims flocked to the National Eid Prayer Ground, an area set up near the High Court specially for the end of Ramadan.
The spacious Prayer Ground has been used for Eid for several years, an epa journalist reports, and about 15,000 people came here to pray Monday.
With Dhaka being one of the world's largest and most densely populated cities, stability was a top priority for Eid prayers, and devotees had to queue up before they could enter the grounds, and security personnel helped them come in.
In addition, the country's President Abdul Hamid and several other senior officials attended prayers, with a few thousand armed police officers standing guard around the grounds.
People were overheard saying they hope God helps make Bangladesh safe and they prayed for peace for all of humanity.
About 570 million people across South Asia - mostly in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh - are followers of Islam, and account for around 30 percent of the world's Muslim population.
SHOT LIST: FOOTAGE OF THE EID AL FITR CELEBRATIONS IN DHAKA, BANGLADESH
Keywords: efe,epa,southeast asia,ramadan,eid al fitr,muslims
Muslims living in the Himalayan republic of Nepal Monday morning celebrated Eid by meeting for prayers in Kathmandu's huge Kashmiri Masjid mosque.
Devotees began arriving at the large central mosque around 8 am local time, and prayers started about an hour later, an epa journalist reports.
At the peak of Monday morning's prayer session, about 10,000 people were gathered in the Kashmiri mosque, one of the largest in Nepal and which sits just a short walk from the Nepalese capital's iconic Kathmandu Durbar Square, a former royal palace.
Once prayers ended around 9.30 am, people exchanged greetings and hugs.
Similar Eid scenes played out in other parts of South Asia, and hundreds of kilometers south of Kathmandu in Calcutta of eastern India, thousands of Muslims met Monday morning inside one of the city's oldest mosques.
In this southern Calcutta mosque, built more than a century ago, as devotees told epa, more than 4,000 people met for Eid prayers.
The mood was reportedly upbeat following the prayers, with people eagerly explaining to epa the history of the mosque and the local area.
Some 250 kilometers northeast of Calcutta, in the bustling Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka, thousands of Muslims flocked to the National Eid Prayer Ground, an area set up near the High Court specially for the end of Ramadan.
The spacious Prayer Ground has been used for Eid for several years, an epa journalist reports, and about 15,000 people came here to pray Monday.
With Dhaka being one of the world's largest and most densely populated cities, stability was a top priority for Eid prayers, and devotees had to queue up before they could enter the grounds, and security personnel helped them come in.
In addition, the country's President Abdul Hamid and several other senior officials attended prayers, with a few thousand armed police officers standing guard around the grounds.
People were overheard saying they hope God helps make Bangladesh safe and they prayed for peace for all of humanity.
About 570 million people across South Asia - mostly in Afghanistan, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh - are followers of Islam, and account for around 30 percent of the world's Muslim population.
SHOT LIST: FOOTAGE OF THE EID AL FITR CELEBRATIONS IN DHAKA, BANGLADESH
Keywords: efe,epa,southeast asia,ramadan,eid al fitr,muslims
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