DHAKA, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Dressed in traditional dresses, men have exchanged Eid greetings while women drew intricate patterns with henna on their hands as Bangladeshi Muslims celebrated Eid-ul-Fitr Saturday, ending a month-long fasting in the holy month of Ramadan.
Muslims offered special prayers at Eid congregation venues in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country seeking divine blessings, peace, progress and prosperity in Eid congregations.
The main Eid congregation in the capital of Dhaka was held at the national Eidgah, a ground specified for giving Eid prayers where Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid, and ministers, lawmakers and elite of the society offered their prayers.
Mamun, a dweller of Shyampur, a neighbourhood in Dhaka, said, "I am very happy to come here (to this Eid congregation venue) because there prevails a very festive atmosphere."
Jannat Aklima Akter, who came from Dhaka's Gulshan Niketan with her husband and kids, said she was very happy to get the opportunity to pray at the main Eid venue with many others together.
"I prayed for all the people of the world, for the people of our country and everybody," another Dhaka dweller Anisur Rahman said. "I have come from Bangshal area (in old Dhaka) to offer Eid prayers at the National Eidgah."
Hundreds of thousands of Eid congregations were also held elsewhere in the country. The country's largest Eid congregation was held at Sholakia in Kishoreganj district, some 117 km northeast of Dhaka, where hundreds of thousands of Muslims gathered from across the country to offer prayers.
The National flag of the country was hoisted atop government and non-government offices on the Eid day while the main streets of the Bangladesh capital were decorated with flags imprinted with "Eid Mubarak," meaning "blessed festival" or "May you enjoy a blessed festival."
Special diets reportedly were offered in hospitals, government-owned welfare centers and shelter homes for children, socially-handicapped people and the destitute.
Officials said additional forces have been deployed at all strategic points, including commercial hubs and main Eid congregation grounds in major cities, to shore up security on the day of Eid-ul-Fitr in the wake of two major terror attacks that occurred in Bangladesh during Ramadan and Eid in 2016.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Mia said Thursday that there were so far no threats of militant attacks during Eid-ul-Fitr.
Before the wounds of the July 1 deadly terror attack during 2016 Ramadan at a Spanish restaurant in Dhaka, that left 22 people, including 18 foreigners and two police officers, dead, had even begun to heal, Bangladesh suffered a fresh blow a few days later when terrorists attacked Muslims' Eid prayers.
At least four people, including two police officers and one of the attackers, were killed after explosions and gunfire took place at the entrance of the Sholakia Eid prayer venue in Kishoreganj district on July 7, 2016.
