Travel

Kuda Eid Festival – Maldives

The Maldives is a Muslim country and so all Islamic festivals are celebrated in the islands, one of the most important being the Kuda Eid Festival, which marks the end of Ramadan. Ramadan last for a whole month, dependent on the sighting of a crescent moon and the Kuda Eid lasts for three days in October. On the first day, people go to the mosque early in the day to ask for blessings. Later on there are feasts – Ramadan is a month of fasting so the festival is especially based around food – and special offerings. Later on traditional dances are performed, especially in the more rural areas, so there is always something to see. Anyone visiting the Maldives during the Kuda Eid Festival should remember that this is a religious festival and not something designed especially for tourists and so they should be respectful and not treat the feasting and dancing just as a photo opportunity. It is nevertheless something that is very interesting to see and well worth including in a holiday if the dates fit with an itinerary.

 

How to get there

The Maldive Islands are an archipelago of twenty six atolls in the Indian Ocean and are an increasingly popular tourist destination. Any holiday to the Maldives is very special and although regular flights are available to one of the two international airports via First Choice, and other operators, they are not yet budget priced nor as frequent as those to many other tourist destinations. Nevertheless, it is quite easy to get to the Maldives and most hotels provide linking ferries or taxis as appropriate from the main islands. The Maldives are known as the ultimate ‘chilled out’ holiday and so most people try to go for at least two weeks, especially given the reasonably long flight needed to get there.

 

Things to do

Things to do in the Maldives can be summed up in one word – relaxation. There are buildings that are quite interesting in the capital Malé but the main activities are snorkelling in the crystal water and lying on the beach or around the pool. The things that characterise people who have recently returned from a Maldives holiday are a deep tan and an air of having been thoroughly rested. Tourism has only been big business in the Maldives since the Seventies but it is now the main source of income in the islands. Although the islands are the smallest Asian country in terms of both land mass and population, it is one of the biggest earners of foreign currency, due almost solely to its popularity as a tourist destination.

 

A romantic getaway?

It is very popular in particular with honeymooners and also people getting married there – some of the beach houses are very private and lend themselves very well to a honeymoon or special anniversary visit. The Kuda Eid Festival would certainly stand out in an average holiday there as being a colourful and unusual spectacle – the dates vary from year to year because Ramadan is determined not by set dates but by the phases of the moon. It ends next year on 25 July.

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