Eid al-Adha (Bakrid) to be celebrated in Kerala on June 29

The festival of Eid al-Adha (Bakrid) will be celebrated in Kerala on June 29 (Thursday). The crescent moon that signals the beginning of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijjah was not spotted in Kerala on Sunday. Therefore, June 20 will be regarded as the first day of Dhul Hijjah and Eid will be celebrated on June 29, said Kozhikode chief acting-Khazi Safeer Saqafi.

The Valiya Perunnal or Baliperunnal is observed on the tenth day of the twelfth and final month, Dhu?l-Hijjah of the Islamic calendar, to honour the willingness of Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Ismail on God’s will.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia has announced that it will celebrate the holy festival on June 28. Hajj pilgrims will meet at Saudi Arabia’s Mount Arafat, a hill about 20 kilometres southeast of Mecca, an important ritual of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The number of pilgrims in this year’s Hajj season reached nearly 9,00,000, including 7,80,000 foreign pilgrims and 1,20,000 pilgrims from Saudi Arabia, the kingdom’s General Authority for Statistics revealed on Friday.