Eid al-Adha is characterized by its sacrifice and carcasses from sheep and various types of livestock in all Muslim countries, so were the Muslims from the time old, but there are festivals with a folk nature far away from meat, fatha, porridge and carcasses, but slaughter and eating meat is rare due to the local and social nature of the population They are the local Maldives.

It may occur to you that the Maldives on holidays is a charming magical vacation between beaches, sand and relaxation, but this character is in tourist resorts and islands independent of the local islands, that once you step on them on the holidays, and you hear the hustle of drums, music and celebrations that bustle the local islands.

Eid al-Adha celebrations

Celebrations begin on the local islands on the eve of standing in Arafat, where Jetty, the quay and main street of most of the islands, is adorned with decorations in preparation for the Eid prayer in which the residents of the island and their relatives from the neighboring islands meet.

Once the sermon ends, the street spreads in a blink of an eye with open tables filled with various local foods, without any meat or derivatives, but rather contains grilled fish, and the Maldivians rarely butch goats, the only animal available that meets the conditions of the sacrifice, which may be available in some capitals The main among the major islands is not common, but there are many islands that do not have barns for goats or birds.

After the mass breakfast, the people of the island head for group games, color festivals in the streets, and competitions between the people of the island and some of them, whether hunting or ball or any of the local sports competitions known, and with the approaching refraction of the sun, ceremonies of another kind begin by dancing.

Dancing and singing

Al Jazeera is spreading a stage covered in colorful lighting and full of festive decorations, as local teams from the island rise to dance to the melodies of Maldivian or Indian folk songs, master the dance skillfully and train for months until they perform these shows, as they split into groups and wear a uniform for the group and the teams continue to dance until late From the night.

On the morning of the second day of the holiday, exhibition teams begin performing dances in the side streets and squares, and you will even be confused about which group you will see from the wide variety of performances around.

Some people wear uniforms with many plastic or tin cans, to make loud noises during the march, then covered with palm trees and circling on the island. He sings holiday songs and traditional songs with the people of the island in a festive march to deliver congratulations to all the houses of the island. To greet the walk, and even the elderly who are unable to follow these marches, the Eid arrives at the door of their house.

Eid fish

The feast of the Maldives is called the Bodo Mas, meaning the big fish, a tradition that many women work to create a large model of a huge fish that exceeds several meters, and the story goes back to the ancient heritage of the Maldives, where the fish that goes along with the jinn and ghosts symbolizes and struggles with the people Al-Jazeera defeats them and they obtain the abundant sacred livelihood from the ocean later.

According to tradition, the powerful men of the island raise the fish in a march that roams all parts of the island, then ends at the farthest point on the island. They either cut it or leave it as a sign of the end of the Eid celebrations this year.

Eid al-Adha celebrations are practiced every year with a slight difference in the rituals or colors of uniforms, and they do not differ much from one island to another except according to the number of participants, where unlike the familiar, the number of participants in the capital Male and the island of Holomaly is reduced, where the majority of the population of the Maldives returns to their original islands to celebrate.

Fortunately this year, the Maldives was one of the first countries to control the epidemic, and announced that it was free from the Coruna virus since last June, and opened its doors for quiet tourism since July 15, and life has returned to normal since then.