DHAKA: Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of the Muslims, will be celebrated across the country on October 6.

Religious Affairs Minister, also the Chairman of the National Moon Sighting Committee Principal Matiur Rahman, made the disclosure after a meeting of the committee. 

The committee also said the month of Zil Hajj would begin on Friday. Accordingly the Day of Arafat would fall on October 3.

The Eid-ul-Azha is celebrated after the hajj, a religious pilgrimage undertaken by millions of Muslims each year.

The Islamic calendar is based on Moon’s movements and many Muslim communities rely on eye-sighting of the crescent to mark the start of a month while some countries base the calendar on astronomic charts.

The Hajj (pilgrimage), one of the five pillars of Islam, is performed on the eighth, ninth and the tenth of this month.

BDST: 1905 HRS, SEP 25, 2014