Muharram festival being celebrated today

Banke . The Muslim community is celebrating Muharram festival today. Muharram festival is observed to commemorate the day of demise of Hazrat Imam Hussain, the grandson of the founder of the Muslim religion, Hazrat Mohammad.

During the festival people set up tazia, a replica of the tomb of Hussain in front of their houses. Mohammad Harun Halwai, the central president of the Nepal Muslim Ittehad Organization, said that it is customary to place tazias on the occasion of the festival.

It is celebrated in the first month of the Islamic calendar, The tazias are made using raw materials such as bamboo and paper. The tazias set up by the Muslim community in their homes are collectively immersed in water of lakes or ponds near their homes.