Andhra Pradesh - Eluru   

Bonhomie marks the celebrations

ELURU: The coincidence of Ramzan and Vinayaka Chiviti which fell on Saturday was marked by bonhomie and religious fervour among the Muslims and the Hindus during the celebrations. The Muslims broke their rigorous month-long fast by offering ‘namaz' in the mosques and hosted iftar parties involving people from different faiths in the city.

Umesh Salma of Hindi department in St. Theresa's College for Women commented that the coincidence of the major festivals of the Hindus and the Muslims had an embedded message of communal tolerance and harmony.

The air of suspense over the celebration of Ramzan that descended on the Muslim Minorities was cleared with the clarifications by their community elders in favour of celebrating the event on Saturday.

The Hindus observed Vinayaka Chaviti with all the pomp and gaiety. Huge pandals adorning the Ganesh idols of different sizes sprang up on all the lanes and by-lanes in the city.

The roads witness a flood of devotees near street vendors purchasing pooja material, leading to traffic bottlenecks on the main thoroughfares like the fire station centre and the Ramachandraraopet road.

The inclement weather and the cyclonic conditions, marked by heavy to moderate rains for the last several days sent the idol traders into jitters.

The rains seemingly turned out to be the biggest ‘obstacle' for the Elephant God himself who is believed to help his devotees overcome the obstacles. The traders were seen desperately covering the idols with rain-proof polythene covers fearing rains. Innovation and the artistic skills were on show with the idol makers using the images of lion, cow, the tiger and the other animals, besides the conventional rat, as a vehicle adorning Ganesha. The Elephant God appeared to have won over the rain god for the time being at least on the festival day as the city witnessed no rains most of the day as the festival set in.

Religious fervuor

ONGOLE: Ganesh Chaturthi was celebrated with religious fervour and traditional enthusiasm across Prakasam district on Saturday.

Local communities competed with each other in displaying biggest and best Ganesh idols as part of the celebrations which will go on for nine days.

The town wore a festive look.

Id celebrated

Id ul-Fitr, marking the conclusion of the month-long dawn-to-dusk fasting in the holy month of Ramadan, was celebrated with religious fervour and traditional enthusiasm in Prakasam district.

Tens of thousands of Muslims offered Id prayers at the Idgah near the Konjeti busstand centre here and in the Idgahs at Markapur, Chirala and Kandukur, among other towns seeking God's forgiveness and for the well-being of all living beings.

They savoured special sweet ‘sivayyan', a sweet made of vermicelli, milk and dried fruit, on the occasion.

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Bonhomie marks the celebrations

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