Showers and Heleem make Hyderabad’s Ramazan special

Story by  ATV | Posted by  Aasha Khosa • 2 Years ago
A family in Hyderabad celebrates iftar
A family in Hyderabad celebrates iftar

 

Sheikh Muhammad Younis/ Hyderabad

Notwithstanding the COVID-19 resurgence, people in Hyderabad are keeping their traditions and culture alive during the holy month of Ramazan.

This is the second Ramazan being observed under the shadow of Coronavirus and yet as religion is the most important part of peoples’ lives, the Muslims don’t let their joys and spirits to welcome this holy month diminish. Taking all precautions, Muslims of Hyderabad spend money on food; the markets are illuminated and mosques are carrying out congregations keeping social distance in mind, with aplomb.

Though the second wave of Corona is deadly and spreading like wildfire, the Telangana government has not declared a lockout as yet. In fact, Taraweeh and Efrat Namaz are allowed with strict observance of the SOPs of the COVID pandemic.

The Jama masjid of Hyderabad

Small and big mosques of the city are decorated with electric lamps. In mosques, there is strict enforcement of the use of masks and social distancing. Special attention is being paid to cleanliness in the mosques. Worshipers have been instructed to come after performing ablations at home and also bring their prayer mat along.

Entry without masks is not allowed in mosques. All precautionary steps are being taken by Muslims to make prayers in the mosque a disciplined and satisfactory experience. Thousands of people offered prayers at the historic Mecca Masjid in the first three days of Ramazan.

The whole year the markets experienced ups and down because of Corona. However, this time buyers are returning to markets for shopping. Families and especially women are seen at apparel stores buying unstitched and finished dresses.

The Eid shopping is being done in advance as people have a sense of fear the government might impose a lockdown if the cases of COVID kept increasing at the present rate.

Iconic Charminar during Ramazan

Charminar People of Hyderabad are also facing a peculiar difficulty due to lack of tailors most of whom were from Bihar. During the last lockdown, thousands of migrant workers left the city for their hometowns. A significant number of them were tailors from Bihar.

Today the big and small tailoring shops are short of artisans. The fear of Corona is also making tailors accept orders for stitching only from the customers they know well; like last time due to Corona, a lot of customers never returned to pick their clothes.

Due to the shortage of artisans, the cost of sewing has also increased significantly.

Decorating hotels and places of worship make the city look vivid. All the small and big hotels in the city are not only decorated but also illuminated.

Haleem, the Arab dish that has been adapted so well in Hyderabad, has almost become an industry. Haleem worth crores of rupees is sold daily here. This year haleem is in high demand as people want to make up for last year when it was not  available due to strict lockdown during Ramazan.

There are crowds at the date shops, for like the rest of the Muslim world, people here break their fast with the fruit. Date prices are quite high. People also shop for pickle, papad, fruits and sesame seeds.

The city was experiencing high temperature for about a month. However, as the Ramazan started heavy rains lashed the region and it became pleasant.