Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha in India
Id-ul-Zuha (Bakr-Id), which is also known as Eid al-Adha or Id-ul-Adha, is a festival that many Muslims celebrate with special prayers, greetings and gifts. It is a gazetted holiday in India and is also referred to as the festival of sacrifice.
What do people do?
Id-ul-Zuha is a festival that is celebrated with traditional fervor and gaiety in India and the world. Many Muslims wear new clothes and attend an open-air prayer meeting during Id-ul-Zuha. They may sacrifice a sheep or goat and share the meat with family members, neighbors and the poor. Many Muslims feel that they have a duty to ensure that all Muslims can enjoy a meat based meal during this holiday.
National, state and local government offices, post offices and banks are closed on Eid al-Adha. Islamic stores, businesses and other organizations may be closed or have reduced opening hours. Those wishing to use public transport on the day may need to contact the local transport authorities to check on timetables.
Large scale prayer meetings may cause local disruption to traffic. This is particularly true of areas of India with a predominantly Muslim population.
Muslims around the world believe that Allah (God) commanded Ibrahim (Abraham) to sacrifice his son Ishmael. Ibrahim followed God's orders, but his son was replaced by a sheep at the last moment. Muslims celebrate this at Eid al-Adha. Eid al-Adha is called Id-ul-Adha in Arabic and Bakr-Id in the Indian subcontinent, because of the tradition of sacrificing a goat or "bakri" in Urdu. The word "id" derived from the Arabic "iwd" means "festival" and "zuha" comes from "uzhaiyya" which translates to "sacrifice".
About Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha in other countriesRead more about Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha.
Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha ObservancesNote: During a gazetted holiday, government offices and most businesses are closed so people have a day off work.
|Wed||Nov 17||2010||Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha||Gazetted Holiday|
|Mon||Nov 7||2011||Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha||Gazetted Holiday|
|Sat||Oct 27||2012||Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha||Gazetted Holiday|
|Wed||Oct 16||2013||Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha||Gazetted Holiday|
|Mon||Oct 6||2014||Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha||Gazetted Holiday|
|Fri||Sep 25||2015||Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha||Gazetted Holiday|
|Mon||Sep 12||2016||Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha||Gazetted Holiday|
Quick FactsMany Muslims in India celebrate Eid al-Adha (Id-ul-Zuha or Bakr-Id), which is on the 10th to 13th days of the Islamic month of Dhul Hijja.
Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha 2015Friday, September 25, 2015
Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha 2016Monday, September 12, 2016
Name in other languages
|Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha||English|
|Bakr Id/Eid ul-Adha||German|
Alternative nameId ul-Zuha
Note: During a gazetted holiday, government offices and most businesses are closed so people have a day off work.
Other holidays in September 2015 in India
- Janmashtami – Saturday, September 5, 2015
- Ganesh Chaturthi/Vinayaka Chaturthi – Thursday, September 17, 2015