Id-e-Milad celebrated in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Members of Muslim community across the city on Sunday celebrated Id-e-Milad, a day marking the birth anniversary of Prophet Mohammed.

The day is also known as Milad-un-Nabi and Barah Wafat, the word Barah stands for the 12-day of the Prophet's sickness before his death.

There are generally low-key festivities as the day also marks the death of Prophet Mohammed.

During the 12 preceding days of the festival, learned men deliver sermons in mosques, focussing on the life and noble deeds of the Prophet. Some people also perform a ceremony known as sandal rite, which is performed over the symbolic footprints of the Prophet engraved on stone.

A representation of buraq, a horse on which the Prophet is believed to have ascended to heaven, is kept near the footprints and anointed with sandal paste or scented powder, and the house and casket containing these are elaborately decorated.

Police said there was high security throughout the city.