Largest Eid congregation held at Sholakia

Kishoreganj Correspondent: As per tradition, the largest 188th Eid-ul-Azha congregation of the country has been held on the historic Sholakia Eidgah in Kishoreganj on Friday.

Over one lakh devotees from home and abroad join the congregation and pray for peace, progress and prosperity of all.
Maulana Zillur Rahman of Barabazar Shamsuddin Masque Khatib conducted the Eid prayer held at 9am.

People started gathering in the Eidgah ground located on the bank of the Narosunda River since early morning to say the special Eid prayer. However, the number of devotees was less than the Eid-ul-Fitr as the ground become muddy due to the continuous rain over the last few days.

After the Eid prayer, Maulana Zillur Rahman prayed to Almighty Allah for granting the highest place in the paradise for them who were killed in the tragic stampede during the Hajj pilgrimage in Macca on Thursday.

Tight security arrangements were in place in the ground and surrounding areas. Special trains were operated on Bhairab-Kishoreganj and Kishoreganj-Mymensingh routes on the occasion.

The huge ground on the bank of the Narosunda River was originally donated by Dewan Hazrat Khan Bahadur, the sixth descendent of Isha Khan, the ruler of Bengal of the Baro-Bhuiyan stock.

The first Eid assembly in Sholakia was held in 1828 where 125,000 devotees were said to have said their prayers. The name Sholakia has been probably been derived from the first gathering which in Bengali sounds like `shoa-lakhia` or one-and-a-quarter lakhs.

This year`s Eid gathering in the historic ground is the 188th congregation.

risingbd/KISHOREGANJ/Sept 25, 2015/Rumon/Augustin Sujan