Devotees thronged at temples and mosques across the State on Monday to offer prayers as two major religious events of Hindu and Muslim community, last Monday of Shravan and Eid-Al-Adha (Bakrid), coincided.

Lakhs of devotees started lining up at Baba Dham in Deoghar, Basukinath in Dumka andPahadi Mandir at Ranchi from midnight to offer prayers to Lord Shiva on the last Monday of Shravan.

To ensure that devotees do not face any problems, Deoghar DC Rahul Kumar Sinha and SP Narendra Kumar Singh distributed drinking water, fruits and juices among them along with members of various social organisations.  

A huge rush was observed at Pahadi Mandir in Ranchi where devotees queued up since 8 pm on Sunday to offer prayers. The area reverberated with the chants of ‘Har Har mahadev’ as devotees lined up to offer water and milk on Shivlinga at the temple.

The rush resulted to a traffic jam in Ratu Road, which did not create much problem as Monday was a holiday.

People of every age, right from little children to elderly persons lined up to offer prayers on the last Monday of Shravan. Savitri Devi, a 62-year-old who was seen queuing up in the line to offer prayers at Pahadi Mandir said, “In the last 35 years, there has not been a single Monday of Shravan when I did not offer prayer at Pahadi Mandir.

It is the blessing of Lord Shiva that I am still in the condition to visit here by myself every year.”

Meanwhile, members of Muslim community were seen offering Namaaz early morning on Monday and wishing each other on the auspicious occasion of Bakrid.

Goats were sacrificed after the Namaaz offering, followed by grand feasts in every Muslim household.

Resident of Risaldar Nagar, Md. Qarim said, “Bakrid is a festival of sacrifice. On this occasion, every Muslim family tries to sacrifice the costliest goat they can afford to buy. After the sacrifice, the meat is cooked and consumed. People also share the meat with such families who cannot afford buying a goat and sacrificing it themselves.”

Bakrid is celebrated as a festival of Sacrifice. It is said that Prophet Ibrahim once had a dream where Allah commanded him to sacrifice his son to test his devotion. As Ibrahim was about to sacrifice his son, he found that instead of his son a goat was lying on the sacrificial ground and his son was safe. Since then, it became a tradition to sacrifice goat on the occasion.

At least 2,000 security personnel and 121 magistrates were deployed on the streets of the State capital to maintain law and order during the festivals.