Bakar-Eid being observed today

Kathmandu - The Muslim community across the country is observing the Bakar-Eid with much fanfare on Sunday. The Muslims visit the mosques, offer prayers to Allah, perform the Namaj prayers and exchange greetings to each others on the occasion. 

The festival falls on the 70th day of the Ramadan, the nine month of the Hijri (Islamic lunar calendar) and on this occasion the Muslims observe fasting during daylight. 

The Jame and Kashmiri Mosques in the capital, mosques outside the Kathmandu Valley, madrasas and Eidgah (open-air places) are crowded with the Eid devotees gathered to observe the festival. 

The government has announced a public holiday today on the occasion of the festival. 

The festival is observed commemorating the moment when Ibrahim, the first of the Old Testament who became ready to sacrifice his son at the command of Allah, the Muslim God, some 1435 years back as per the Hijri calendar, said Nirdosh Ali, chairperson of the National Muslim Commission. 

Reading Namaj, observing Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca Medina) and Roja (fasting), and offering donations and sacrifices are the five main good deeds that are supposed to be followed by the Muslim people.