India celebrates Eid with prayers, feasts marking end of holy month

Dressed in traditional finery, Muslims across India offered prayers at mosques and eidgahs on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr on Thursday, marking the end of the holy month of Ramzan. In the national capital, a huge congregation gathered for the morning prayers at the 17th-century Jama Masjid in the walled city and exchanged greetings and embraces. Markets around Jama Masjid, including Chandni Chowk, Meena Bazar and Dariba Kalan, wore a festive look and saw brisk shopping for the festival. "The message of Islam is that people of all religions should live together with love and affection. This is the 'Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb'. There is no religion bigger than humanity," said Mohammad Gufran Afridi, a local resident, after offering prayers at the Jama Masjid. After the month-long dawn-to-dusk fasts, people made a beeline for eateries and restaurants selling lip-smacking dishes and also visited their neighbours, friends and relatives and shared sweet milk-based desserts like 'sewai' and ...