Hyderabad: Mourning and solemnity marked the “Youm-e-Ashoora,” the 10th day of Muharram, in the city on November 25. Special public meetings and prayers apart, food-feeding camps for people were organized to mark the occasion.
The highlight of the day was the “Bibi-ka-Alam” taken out on a caparisoned elephant in a procession in the old city. It was preceded by a mounted police party and camels that carried small Alams and relics.
Members of the Shia community marched along the procession flagellating themselves with sharp weapons to the cries of ‘Ya Husain’ to mourn the martyrdom of Imam Husain, the grandson of the Prophet, in the battle of Karbala in Iraq centuries ago, even as women, who lined up on the procession route beat their chest as the procession passed through the road.
