All set for Bakri Id festivities

A shopkeeper, Mohammed Usman, who was eager to explain the significance of the festival, said, “We visit the mosque and offer prayer in the morning. Then we prepare for the sacrifice at home,” he said.

Dastager, a trader, said that after the sacrifice, the meat is divided into three parts. "One portion is given to relatives, one to the friends and the third is distributed amongst poor people," he said.  Apart from the sacrifice, biryani and ‘sheer khurma’ (paysam) are main preparations that mark the festival. "On the eve of the festival, the demand of items like pheni goes up. So, I order them in advance and get them from Yeshwantpur. Some of the savouries come from as far as Hyderabad," said Usman.

However, it seems people are not very choosy about sweets. Qureshi M, a sweetshop owner, said the sales of the sweets were okay. He said, "People here will eat whatever you give them. There is no favourite sweet as such." As for the meat shops, it was business as usual. "We don't get a lot of profits during Bakri-Id. People sacrifice the animal in their houses. So, the business only goes by 10-15 per cent. In fact, we make more profits during Ramzan," said Noor Ullal of KGS Mutton Shop at Russell Market.  Bakri-Id, also known as Eid ul-Adha, is celebrated worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son as an act of obedience to God.