Eid shopping in full swing in Srinagar
A day ahead of the Eid-ul-Azha, markets in Srinagar especially the commercial hub Lal Chowk Thursday witnessed a huge rush of shoppers who thronged to shops here to buy essentials and food stuffs.
Reports said that the roads remained flooded with the shoppers while the vehicles in large number were seen stranded in everlasting gridlock.
Men, women and the young hunted for hosiery items, bakery, poultry and mutton while children preferred to buy firecrackers and toys to add to the joy of Eid, the Muslim holy festival, which will be celebrated on Saturday.
After the pavement traders spread their stalls virtually all over Srinagar, roads in the city got choked by afternoon.
The Traffic cops had a tough time regulating the flow of vehicles.
While queues of buyers were seen outside the bakery and mutton shops, the most crowded places in the city were the makeshift animal markets, especially at the Eidgah ground in the old City.
The other main attractions were on bakery products. Cakes, pastries, cookies and biscuits sold like hot cakes. Some of the better known bakery shops in Srinagar had taken orders as long as a month back.
“I had placed my order with the baker a week ago. Even after that, I had to queue up this morning to get my ordered goods,” a local from Rainawari said.
Notably, on Eid-ul-Azha also known as ‘Bakra Eid’, a spiritual Muslim can offer a goat or sheep as a sacrificial animal while one camel and a calf will suffice for the vow of seven Muslims.
Allah ordered Ibrahim (AS), to sacrifice his son Ismail (AS). When the blindfolded father moved the blade on his son’s throat to carry out the divine command, an animal from heaven replaced Ismail (AS).
It is to celebrate the absolute submission of Prophet Ibrahim (AS), to Allah’s command and the saving of Ismail’s life that Muslims offer animal sacrifices on Eid-ul-Azha.
KV Correspondent
