Celebrating Eid-ul-Azha with prayers - and a 180 kg goat!
By IANSWednesday, November 17, 2010
MUMBAI - Millions of Muslims in Mumbai and others parts of Maharashtra celebrated Eid-ul-Azha with joy and religious fervour Wednesday. As people hunted for the best sacrificial goats, one that grabbed instant attention was a four-feet tall giant, weighing 180 kg!
The huge goat, which weighed nearly four times a normal goat, drew crowds at a market in Nagpur where it was up for sale since Tuesday.
Its owner Nadeem Khan said he had brought it from Chambal, Madhya Pradesh and had been rearing it for over two years, feeding it the best of food and milk.
“I used to spend over Rs.400 per day on its food and milk. Now, it has grown into a handsome creature, a beloved of Allah. It has been sold to a customer for around Rs.1.75 lakhs,” he said.
The traditional Eid prayers were held in nearly 500 mosques all over Mumbai Wednesday after which Muslims greeted their near and dear ones and many sacrificed goats and sheep.
Thousands of people also rushed for a glimpse of a goat on whose ears a natural inscription of the word ‘Allah’ was visible.
The white skinned goat was awaiting a buyer at the Deonar Abattoir in northeast Mumbai. Allah, the way it is written in Arabic, can be seen clearly on both its ears in black, which many consider a miracle.
The owner of the 90 kg goat said he was getting offers starting at Rs.200,000 for it, but planned to sell it for around Rs.500,000!
Muslim men, women and children came out in all their finery in major pockets like Colaba, Nagpada, Mazagaon, Byculla, Bandra, Santacruz, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Malad, Dahisar, Deonar, Sion and other parts to take part in Bakri-Eid celebrations.
Similar reports of peaceful and joyful Bakri-Eid celebrations have come in from places like Pune, Malegaon, Mira Road, Bhiwandi, Ratnagiri, Aurangabad, Jalgaon and other parts of the state.
In a unique gesture, Muslims of Pandharpur temple town in Solapur district postponed their Bakri-Eid celebrations by two days as a mark of respect to the Hindu festival of Kartiki Ekadashi, which is also being celebrated Wednesday.
