Daily & Festival Prayer

Prayer (salat in Arabic, sandhya or puja in Sanskrit) frames every observance in both the Islamic and Hindu calendars. The Islamic five daily prayers — Fajr at dawn, Dhuhr at midday, Asr in the afternoon, Maghrib at sunset, and Isha at night — are an obligation upon every adult Muslim and are intensified during festival days with additional congregational prayers. The Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha prayers feature the special Salat al-Eid in two rakats with extra takbirs, performed at an open musalla or large mosque on the morning of the festival. Friday Jumu'ah congregational prayer replaces the Dhuhr prayer with a sermon and two-rakat congregational salat. Tarawih prayers are offered nightly throughout Ramadan, with the entire Qur'an typically completed over the course of the month. Tahajjud night prayers are recommended throughout the year and are particularly intensified on Laylat al-Qadr, Laylat al-Bara'ah, and the Day of Arafah. The Hindu sandhya prayer tradition observes three daily prayers at dawn, midday, and sunset, with major festival observances featuring elaborate puja ceremonies including the abhishekam ritual bath of deity idols, the offering of flowers, fruits, sweets, and prepared foods, the lighting of diya lamps and the burning of incense, and the chanting of mantras and stotras specific to each deity and observance.