Eid-e-Milad, also known as Milad-un-Nabi and Mawlid-un-Nabi, was celebrated nationwide on September 28 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammad. Banks in several cities remained closed on Thursday and Friday in observance of the festival.

The Maharashtra government declared a public holiday on Friday on the occasion of Eid-e-Milad. The Maharashtra chief minister’s office said the decision was taken in the wake of Anant Chaturdashi and Eid-e-Milad —the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad—falling on the same day.

The announcement brought a long week holiday for the people of Maharashtra with two consecutive state holidays on Thursday and Friday followed by the weekend and the national holiday on October 2 (Monday), marking Gandhi Jayanti.

Will the banks remain closed?

According to the holiday calendar of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks will remain closed in Gujarat, Mizoram, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Hyderabad-Telangana, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, New Delhi, Chhattisgarh, and Jharkhand on September 28, the banks will remain shut in Sikkim, Jammu, Maharashtra and Srinagar on September 29.

Online banking services, including mobile banking services and internet banking, will remain operational as usual. There were 16 bank holidays in the month of September this year across different states on different occasions including Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi.

When is Eid celebrated?

Milad-un-Nabi is being observed in Rabi al-Awwal, the third month of the Islamic calendar. This festival is observed by Sunni Muslims on the 12th day of Rabi’ al-awwal, while Shia Muslims observe it on the 17th day of Rabi’ al-awwal, according to the Gregorian calendar based on the sighting of the crescent moon.

Eid-e-Milad was celebrated on September 28 in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other parts of the subcontinent, while it was celebrated on September 27 in Saudi Arabia.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday took to X (formerly Twitter) and extended his wishes writing, “Greetings on Milad-un-Nabi. May the spirit of brotherhood and kindness be furthered in our society. May everyone be happy and healthy. Eid Mubarak!”

Eid-e-Milad was celebrated in many parts of the world with immense enthusiasm. Muslims in different parts of the world by the Sunni express their love and admiration for the Prophet Muhammad on Eid-e-Milad in different ways.

Celebrations and prayers across India

In India, people celebrated Eid Milad-un-Nabi with decorations, processions and special prayers. The festival was marked by grand processions including decorated elephants and camels. Poems or songs praising the Prophet Muhammad called ‘Naat’ were recited as an integral part of the celebration.

Several devotees in different parts of India, including Delhi, Ajmer, Srinagar, Dehradun, Ranchi, Varanasi, Guwahati, Prayagraj and Bhubaneswar carried out large gatherings and processions holding flags to celebrate Prophet Mohammad’s birth anniversary.

Many Muslim communities such as Dawoodi Bohra community in Bhopal took part in the procession with great fervour. Masjids and Dargahs were decorated with colourful lights on the festival.

Security arrangements were in force for Eid-e-Milad on September 28 as large processions were organised nationwide.