The Muslim fraternity in the city has geared up for the holy month of Ramzan which will be observed from Tuesday with intense prayers and roza, dawn-to-dusk fasting.
The Hilal Committee confirmed the start of the season from Tuesday and on the first day Sahar will be occurring at 4.09 a.m. and Iftaar at 6.50 p.m., according to Islamic scholar Md. Altaf Ali Raza.
He said roza would be for about 15 hours due to climatic conditions. Mosques and idgahs, including the oldest Jamia, Minar, Bilal, Lababin, Masjid-e-Bilal in the city, have been spruced up to host special prayers throughout the month as a large number of devotees are expected to take part every evening as they break the daylong fast during the Iftaar feast.
At the Iftaar feasts, Muslims break their fast. Various walks of people, including politicians, host Iftaar parties.
Exclusive stalls offering dates and vermicelli have come up at the Panja centre in One-Town where a large number of Muslim families reside. A large variety of special sweets are sold at the special stalls.
All the mosques in city will be serving Ganji made of rice or wheat and vegetables will be served during Iftaar. Like Haleem is for Hyderabad, Ganji is for Vijayawada, Mr. Ali Raza said. Meanwhile, Haleem is now available across the city with growing craze for the dish among Muslims and non-Muslims as well.
Made of meat, wheat and other ingredients, the dish is considered the best food to give instant energy to those breaking the fast. Haleem makers in the Old City, star hotels and others are giving finishing touches to their outlets to serve the dish from Tuesday.
The price of Haleem is set around Rs. 80 to Rs. 150 per 300 gm and Rs. 400 to Rs. 1000 per around 1 kg and varies from shop to shop.
Mosques, idgahs
spruced up to host special prayers during the holy month
