The COVID-19 lockdown and its four-hour window turned the Id-ul-Fitr celebrations into a frenzy in Hyderabad on Friday morning.
The idgahs where the congregation prayers are traditionally held wore a deserted look.
At the Mir Alam Idgah, worshippers trying to reach the vast prayer ground were turned back by the police.
The doors of Mecca Masjid too remained closed to worshippers and only a few members of the masjid committee offered the traditional Id prayers marking the end of Ramzan.
The roads were clogged by men in white and children dressed in festive finery zipping around to visit their family members, shop for breakfast and offer floral tributes at graveyards.
By 9 a.m., the piazza near Charminar turned into a selfie spot with hundreds of young men, women and families taking photographs with the iconic monument as a background.
“These people leave the place before the 10 a.m. curfew time, so we don’t have to do anything,” said a traffic constable posted near the Mecca Masjid.
While hawkers and vendors filled the area between Charminar and Char Kaman area before Id, on Friday, there were only visitors and a few hawkers.
