- Title: BANGLADESH: Bangladeshis pray and slaughter animals for Eid al-Adha
- Date: 29th November 2009
- Summary: VARIOUS OF DEVOTEES PRAYING (7 SHOTS)
- Embargoed: 14th December 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Bangladesh
- Country: Bangladesh
- Topics: Religion
- Reuters ID: LVA28VV9J9WK5YO61TCXF93H4NEF
- Story Text: Bangladeshi Muslims celebrate Eid al-Adha with prayers and animal sacrifices.
Bangladeshi Muslims celebrated Eid al-Adha on Saturday (November 28), with thousands praying in the National Mosque in the capital Dhaka.
With a huge number of people packing the main mosque, many devotees had to pray outside in the streets.
Eid-al-Adha is the second largest religious festival for Muslims.
Known as the festival of sacrifice, it commemorates Abraham's willingness to obediently offer his own son to God.
Muslims commemorate and remember Abraham's trials by slaughtering an animal - from cows to camels and goats to sheep.
Farhad Hossain, a local devotee praying for his country and Muslims across the world, said a sacrificial slaughtering in the name of god would follow the prayers.
"Now we have just finished our Eid prayer session, we pray to the almighty for the peace and prosperity of Bangladesh and for the world Muslims. Now we are ready for Kurbani (sacrificial slaughtering). We are going home to slaughter animals in the name of Allah," he said.
In Bangladesh, one-third of the meat is eaten by the immediate family and relatives, one-third is given away to friends and one-third is donated to the poor.
Dhaka's sanitation authorities have made preparations to remove the waste expected from the sacrificing of animals usually practiced during Eid.
The sales of sacrificial animals in the city saw a slight decrease this year, as prices have gone up.
Families across the country have gathered to mark the festival.
On Thursday evening (November 26) thousands of people began scrambling to leave the Bangladeshi capital for their home provinces to celebrate Eid-al-Adha with relatives.
A rush of commuters caused huge traffic jams in Dhaka, while bus and train stations were packed with people heading for the three-day holiday.
On Friday night (Friday 27) at least five people died and 50 were reported missing after a ferry with several hundred passengers going home for the festival sank in a river mouth 300 kilometres south of the capital. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains identifiable children: users must ensure that they comply with local laws and regulations governing the publishing of this material.