It is a Muslim festival that is celebrated by Muslims in almost all the places. It is celebrated to mark the end of the holy month of fasting, Ramadan. The word Eid-ul-fitr is derived from the two words Eid and fitr which literally means festivity and to break the fast respectively. Hence this festival signifies the breaking of the fasting period. The festival starts from the month of Shawaal according to Islamic Calendar.

The festival
Muslims on this day wake up early in the morning and have light breakfast preferably of the Date fruit. They then go for attending a special prayer (salah) exclusively for the Eid that is held in a mosque or any open area. They wear new clothes and attend the prayers compulsorily. The eid prayer is followed by Khutbah meaning sermon and dua meaning prayer asking for forgiveness, love and help for all the creatures living on the earth. After that the people greet the person sitting on his side independent of whether he know him or not. After the customary rituals people make visits to their relatives , friends and family. Some even visit Graveyards to pay homage to the departed souls.

On the last day of the month of Ramadan ,that is on the eve of Eid the moon of the Shawaal is sighted. As soon as the moon is sighted a special prayer called takhbir is recited. Before the eve every muslim who is able must pay the Zakat- al- fitr meaning help for the poor. Nearly about 2kg of basic fooding or cash is collected by the mosque and is distributed among the needy local muslims so that even they can also enjoy the festival.

Celebrations
In southern asia men generally wear Throbe or Sherwani in the morning and women wear salwaar kameez. Men generally go for attending the Eid prayer in the mosque and then they greet every other human in the mosque. People in United Kingdom pay visit to their relatives and friends and even visit Graveyards to respect their ancestors. People cook traditional food for their relatives and specially a dish called simaya is more popularly made. It is celebrated open heartedly across different parts of India. The popular mosque in India is the Jama Masjid where people throng in huge numbers to enjoy this festive occasion.