Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the month of blessings and brings joyful three days of celebration. Muslims are prohibited to fast on the day of Eid. They start their day with a prayer to thank God Almighty for blessing them with all the wonders of life. Furthermore, Eid-ul-Fitr is an Islamic festival which is a reminder to Muslims of submission to God and an immediate reward by God Almighty for those who spent the month of Ramadan in fasting and performing other forms of prayers.
On the first day of Eid, Muslim men get up early in the morning and prepare themselves for a congregational Eid payer at the mosque. This consists of a sermon followed by the prayer. After the prayer, Muslim scatter and go to meet friends and family as Eid is a time to come together as a community, forget the grudges, settle all the rows and renew family and friend ties. These activities traditionally last for two to three days. The kids are more excited on this Eid than the elders because they receive “Eidi” from the elders. The elders give the kids some amount of money to buy ice creams or other thing for them to enjoy.
As the entire 3 day Eid period is an official/government holiday, families manage to spend some time together. The third day is generally ‘families only’ day and people usually spend their time in parks, gardens and other recreational places, others just love to spend time by staying home all day long. During the first two days of Eid, people stay busy in family dinners and lunches. The first two days of Eid, women usually spend most of their time in kitchen cooking feasts while the men enjoy talking to their family relatives and socializing around. The sweets, particularly the vermicelli’s, are specially cooked on Eid for guests to relish with. To give the ladies a break, it is usual to dine the third day of Eid at a restaurant. It is common to see hustle bustle at hotels and restaurants on the third day. At Eid, Fine dining is a common thing around and people like to celebrate the last day of Eid by having a festive dinner.
This Eid is an occasion of joy and happiness and thus bright colors are the trend of the season. It is common to see people wear bright and robust colors, especially on Eid-day 3. This is reflected by women wearing bright colored bangles, beautiful jewelry and ornaments. Though most men opt to dress in the usual white Shalwar Qameez, women tend to go quite the opposite.