Muslims mark Eid and final days of hajj in Saudi Arabia
Mina: Around 2.5 million pilgrims took part in a symbolic stoning of the devil on Saturday, marking the final days of the hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia and the start of the Eid al-Adha celebrations for Muslims around the world.
The five-day hajj pilgrimage is required of all Muslims once in their lifetime, if they are financially and physically able to make the journey.
Muslims around the world commemorate the end of hajj with Eid celebrations, including distributing meat to the poor.
"I came from Sudan to Mecca where I performed the pilgrimage," Mohammed Saleh said as he performed the final rites of hajj in Mina. "We hope all pilgrims will be successful in their hajj." Others too expressed a sense of gratitude to have performed the hajj.
Saudi Arabia said 1.85 million pilgrims from more than 160 different countries traveled to the kingdom for the hajj this year. Another 634,000 joined from within Saudi Arabia, nearly 70 per cent of them non-Saudi residents of the kingdom.
The hajj is one of the largest religious gatherings on earth and a massive logistical challenge for the Saudi government to oversee each year. The kingdom provides pilgrims with health care and buses for transportation, as well as meals, snacks and water along the routes of hajj.
Mina is a sprawling valley near Mecca where thousands of air-conditioned tents are erected to house pilgrims for the final leg of the hajj.
Because of the narrow roads between tents, it is also where the deadliest hajj disasters have occurred, including a 2015 stampede and crush that killed more than 2,400 people.
The Saudi government has since widened roads and monitors the flow of people and crowds with tens of thousands of soldiers, guards, policemen and cameras.
Saudi media reported King Salman visited Mina on Sunday to supervise the services provided during the hajj. He included among his guests for the hajj this year 200 survivors and relatives of victims of the mosque attacks in New Zealand, where a gunman opened fire and killed 51 people in March.
It is in Mina where Muslims believe Ibrahim's faith was tested when God commanded him to sacrifice his only son Ismail. Ibrahim was prepared to submit to the command, but then God stayed his hand, sparing his son.
In Mina, pilgrims walk long distances on pedestrian-only streets toward a multi-story complex housing large pillars. There, they cast seven pebbles each at three pillars in a ritual meant to symbolize the casting away of evil and sin.
Muslims believe the hajj offers the chance of atonement and an opportunity to erase past sins. The first two days of the hajj are spent in Makkah and other areas around it in deep prayer, contemplation and worship.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Karnataka School Edu Dept prohibits children from being made to dance to obscene songs
Bengaluru (PTI): The Karnataka School Education Department has issued a circular strictly prohibiting children from being made to dance to obscene songs in educational and cultural programmes.
It stated that such dances would negatively impact students' mental health and moral values. It will create indiscipline and harm the sanctity of education.
"All the Deputy Directors (Administration) of the state's School Education Department have been asked to take strict measures to prevent children or students from dancing to obscene songs in all government, aided and unaided schools in the state," the office of the commissioner of the School Education Department said in a recent circular.
"If it is found that children are being made to dance to obscene songs, appropriate action will be taken against the headmaster or management of such school," it added.
The department also listed certain measures in this regard, which include: strictly prohibiting children from being made to dance to obscene songs during educational and cultural programmes; selecting songs that are inspiring, positive, instilling national pride in children and reflecting the greatness, dignity, values, culture, and morality of the state.
Stating that the school headmaster and management are responsible for selecting songs and dances for cultural programmes, it said, they should also ensure that students wear decent clothes in dance or cultural programmes.
