Sholakia ready for biggest Eid Jamaat

Sholakia Eidgah (field) in Kishorganj district is all set to host the country’s largest Eid Jamaat (congregation). Eid-ul-Fitr, the greatest festival of Muslims, will be celebrated in Bangladesh on Saturday or Sunday. The Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Kirshoreganj district and also the president of the Eidgah executive committee, said all preparations have nearly been completed to hold the 189th Eid congregation in Sholakia. Tens of thousands of devotees offer Eid prayers here every year. This year, about 0.3 million Musallis are expected to offer prayers seeking divine blessings, peace and progress for the country during Eid-ul-Fitr jamaat. The Sholakia Eid congregation usually begins at 10:00am. Chairman of Islahul Muslimeen Council SM Alam says Muslims from home and abroad usually gather in Kishoreganj town 2-3 days ahead of the Eid to attend the congregation. The government has arranged three special train services to make the devotees’ travel smooth. Two trains will leave from Mymensingh and Narshandhi at 5:30am on the Eid day while the third train will leave from Bhairab at 6:00am. The trains will return back to their own destinations after the prayer ends at 12:00pm. The Kshoreganj Police Super says law enforcers are ready to ensure the security of the devotees. Maulana Md Fariduddin Masud may lead this year’s Eid prayers at the historic ground. The first Eid congregation on this ground was held in 1828 when a local Dewan, called Sayeed Ahmed (R) of Haibatnagar Dewan Bari of the town, conducted Eid jamaat on one of the fields of his own ‘Taluk’ (revenue zone). This later became known in history as the Sholakia Eidgah. The name ‘Sholakia’ comes from Shoa Lakh, meaning ‘1 lakh 25 thousand (0.125 milion)’ being the number of people that had come to offer their Eid prayers at the field. The surrounding area was also named Sholakia afterwards. Later, another Dewan, Mannan Dad Khan, gave 4.35 acres of land for the Eidgah in 1950. However, according to sources, the Sholakia Eidgah now has about 7 acres of land. The Eidgah stands on the bank of the Narosundar River and is known throughout the suncontinent for the large number of devotees who come here every year for saying their prayers on the occasion of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha, according to a news agency.