Bangalore, July 29 (IANS): Eid-ul-Fitr was celebrated Tuesday with gaiety and fervour in Karnataka.
Thousands of Muslims - who comprise about 20 percent of the 60 million population in the state - celebrated the festival, marking the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and beginning of Shawwal, the 10th month of the Hijra calendar.
Wearing new clothes with white caps, the devout, including children, congregated in open grounds and mosques and offered prayers. They greeted each other and exchanged gifts, including dry fruits and sweets.
Many of them also gave alms to the poor and needy as part of the celebrations.
Though the moon could not be sighted in Bangalore due to a cloudy sky late Monday, state cleric Maulana Khadeer Ahmed Ada-ul-Amri declared that the festival would be celebrated Tuesday, as the moon was sighted in other parts of the state.
In Bangalore, the largest gathering of devout was at the Masjid-e-Idgah Bilal on Bannerghatta Road.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy joined the clerics and laity to offer prayers and exchanged greetings.
At the Masjid-e-Khadaria on Millers Road, Information Minister Roshan Baig and veteran Congress leader C.K. Jaffer Sharief led the congregation in prayers.
Sumptuous food, including spicy biryani, meat dishes, phirni and faluda marked the day-long festival.
Eid was celebrated peacefully at Bhatkal, Karwar and Mangalore in the coastal areas, Belgaum, Bellary, Bidar, Bijapur, Chitradurga, Davengere, Gadag, Gulbarga and Raichur in the northern region and Kodagu, Mandya and Mysore in the southern region.
Elaborate security arrangements were made to ensure peaceful celebrations.
Traffic was diverted in and around the open grounds and big mosques in the state capital.