Srinagar: The holy month of Ramadhan commenced in Jammu and Kashmir with religious fervor on Sunday. After the last two years of the situation owing to COVID, prayers including taraweeh are keeping masjids and khankahs abuzz.
The buzz created by Ramadhan has been quite evident in the markets of summer capital Srinagar as shops and vendors selling dates and other eatables were thronged by people.
People could be seen making purchases including that of fruits while the demand for mutton and poultry items has also witnessed a sharp increase since the last few days.
In the summer capital Srinagar, many of the restaurants, roadside tea stalls and vendors selling eatables were closed on Sunday on the first day of Ramadhan.
The markets in city centre Lal Chowk could be seen bustling with shoppers . Mehraj-ud-din, a fruit vendor on the busy Residency Road said the different varieties of dates and fruits were in demand this Ramadhan. “
It is quite good to see that people are making purchases which will provide a boost to business. The demand for fruits especially watermelons like every year is quite high this Ramadhan as well” said Mehraj.
Muhammad Saleem, a dry fruit merchant at Raj Bagh said among the dates, Ajwa, Safawi , Qalmi and Mabroom were the varieties from Saudi Arabia that have gained popularity among people in Kashmir.
“We are selling more than one dozen varieties of dates and people are ready to purchase even the ones that are priced on the higher side” Saleem said.
It may be mentioned that this Ramadhan people in large numbers can be seen going for prayers to masjids including Taraweeh prayers. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and other senior officials of the UT administration had earlier this week pressed for all sorts of arrangements for the holy month of Ramadhan.