A different Eid

It was Eid-ul-Adha in Indonesia today as it was in Bangladesh and many other parts of the world. The day started with a visit to the the Istiqlal Mosque, the national mosque and the largest one in Southeast Asia.

Men and women -- dressed in apparently new clothes -- said their prayers in two sections, side by side and not separated by any walls or anything like that. The president and high-ups of the country also offered their prayers at this famous mosque, which is a massive complex with a capacity of 200,000, but pretty simplistic in design.

People even had their meals and children played around inside the complex, which added to the festive mood of the occasion.

Elsewhere in the city, there was not much visible signs of Eid-ul-Adha, as you would see in Bangladesh or elsewhere in South Asia. There was no open slaughtering of cattle, let alone any garbage after the sacrifice. It was a one-day government holiday, but the streets were much like every other day, albeit the traffic being a bit thinner than usual.

Indonesia is the largest Musilm-majority country in the world, with Muslims making up around 87.2 per cent of its total population of 261 million. There are other religions as well, with a strong Christian community. And the country has numerous ethnicities, much like the numerous islands that this country is made up of.

Yet there is hardly any visible division among people. At least that is the impression to be had from the 10 days spent in Jakarta and other cities so far during these Asian Games.

People spend their Eid holiday at an amusement park in Jakarta. Photo: Atique Anam

The day ended with a dinner party, arranged by the Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) at the athletes’ village, with the president of BOA the guest of honour. He met the athletes and journalists and wished the Bangladesh contingent success in their endeavour.

The arrangement gave the athletes, who are spending the Eid away from home, a cause to celebrate.