After a gap of two years, Bihar celebrates Eid with abandon
Patna: The festive ambience of Eid ul Fitr was back in Bihar on Tuesday when the believers came out of their homes to celebrate the victory of faith over the gloomy spectre that the global pandemic had brought in its wake.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was back in the sprawling Gandhi Maidan in Patna, a practice he has followed all through his 16 years long tenure, to join the "namazis" in the thanksgiving prayer that marks the conclusion of the gruelling austerities during the holy month of Ramadan.
"I have been coming here on Eid since 2016. For the last two years, the ceremony could not be held because of coronavirus. The festival teaches us the importance of mutual respect among people of different affiliations which is essential for the harmonious growth of a society," Kumar, who donned a skullcap offered by one of the clerics present on the occasion, told reporters.
It was a busy day for the septuagenarian whose mettle stood proven this Ramadan as the state, where his ally BJP is the numero uno party in terms of numerical strength, remained relatively free of the communal conflagrations and controversies around relay of azaan through loudspeakers.
After being through with the Gandhi Maidan function, Kumar, whose reverence for Sufi saints is well known, travelled to Phulwarisharif in another corner of the city and paid his homage at Khanqah Mujibia, a shrine built in the memory of 18th century saint Hazrat Mujibullah Qadri.
Elsewhere in the state, it was time for men, women and children to get dressed in all their finery to greet each other "Eid Mubarak". Shrieks of joy were heard from the little ones for whom the opportunity to amble around outdoors, receiving 'Eidi' offered by their elders, came after two years.
Shopkeepers dealing in vermicelli, milk and ghee were having a field day as householders kept pouring in to collect the essential ingredients for 'sevai' delicacy, considered a must-have for guests who come visiting on the day.
