With both Holi and Eid-e-Milad to be celebrated simultaneously on Tuesday, most educational institutes and government offices will remain closed on Tuesday and Wednesday as people in the city look forward to celebrations for two days. The residents of the city were seen busy with shopping in major shopping areas of the city on Monday, which led to a huge rush in these areas.
While Hindus will start a two-day Holi from Tuesday - on the first night they will hold prayers and make offerings to the fire god and follow the next day with a riot of colours, the Muslims across the city are also geared up to celebrate the birthday and commemorate the death anniversary of Prophet Mohammad on the same day.
For Eid-e-Milad, a huge procession would commence from Jamalpur Darwaza on Tuesday which will be flagged off by Jagannath temple's pundit, Rameshwar Dasji. Over 30,000 people are expected to participate in the procession while over 1 lakh people are expected to witness the event.
The procession would consist of 34 trucks, 26 camel carts, 11 unique models of Mecca-Madina, 5 akhadas, 5 bands, 6 horses, drummer party of 18 known as 'chayyam' and 14 people would spread the Prophet's message of communal harmony and peace in the country.
"The procession will pass through Jamalpur Chakla, Khamasa, Karnaj police station, Teen Darwaza, Relief Road and end at Mirzapur Kuresh chowk. It is heart warming to see Indians celebrate two great festivals like Holi and Id-e-Milad on the same day," said JV Momim, member of the Ahmedabad Tazia Committee.
All educational institutes in the city, including IIM-A, Cept, NID, Gujarat University and others, will remain closed for these festivals. Government offices will also remain closed for the two days of festivity. This has given a respite to government employees. It may be noted that due to model code of conduct coming into effect after the dates for parliamentary polls were announced, the government has already gone into a state of suspended animation.
