Thousands of people in Kashmir have on Tuesday observed the religious ceremony of Arbaeen, marking 40 days since the holiday of Ashura, when the martyrs of the Battle of Karbala are commemorated.
The attendants commemorated Arbaeen by making processions and holding Majlis (religious congregations) across the region.
The largest gathering took place in central Kashmir’s Budgam Township, where a large number of mourners remembered the sacrifice of Imam Hussain and his companions.
After Asr prayers, mourners carried out a huge procession from the Astaan Sharief shrine in Budgam, which after passing through traditional route, culminated later at Imam Bargah.
Similar processions were also reported in the Bemina, Zadibal, Hassanabad, Shilwat and Udina areas.
While paying tribute to the martrs of Karbala, people were seen reciting traditional Kashmiri Mariya poems.
Arbaeen observance takes place every eyat 40 days after Ashura, the commemoration of the day when Imam Hussain and his companions were killed by the forces of the Umayyad leader Yazid in 680 CE.
Arbaeen is one of the largest gatherings of people on the planet every year. Currently, the Arbaeen pilgrimage of the year 2016 ranks as the third-largest peacetime gathering of people in the history of the world, with an estimated total of around 30 million pilgrims.
Photos :Aadil Abass
