Sweet smell of Ramadan tempts as South Asia's Muslims fast

Mosques and market streets teem with evening crowds tempted by the scent of syrupy sweets and hefty rice plates, as more than half a billion Muslims across southern Asia break the day's Ramadan fast.

The Islamic holy month began over the weekend and during that time believers abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, and sexual relations between sunrise and sunset.

The fast is conceived as a spiritual struggle against the seduction of earthly pleasures - but for the nightly "iftar" meal, festive meals traditionally bring families together and there is intense social activity.

The centuries-old Chawkbazar market in Bangladesh is a traditional centre for evening meet-ups during Ramadan, with hundreds of makeshift food stalls selling traditional grilled meats and delicacies.

Huge crowds returned to the neighbourhood on Sunday for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic put a pin in large public gatherings.

"It felt so good to come here again," said businessman Mohammad Ashrafuddin. "Without Chawkabazar's iftar items, I feel like my Ramadan isn't complete."

Pakistan's Muslims are also basking in the opportunity to again break fast in company and out from under a Covid crowd, with the government lifting restrictions on public gatherings weeks earlier.

A cook prepares sweets in a shop at a market on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Karachi.

A Muslim devotee waits to break his fast on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Karachi.

Mosques have been lit up with lanterns and nearby markets are bustling as crowds stop for fried sweet pastries and stock up on meals to distribute to the poor.

In India, crowds flock to stalls which line a street in the shadow of New Delhi's resplendent Jama Masjid, one of the country's largest houses of worship, snacking on wrinkled dates and seasonal sweet buns baked with infusions of coconut or cherries.

A shopkeeper selling a sweet dish waits for customers at a market on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in the old quarters of Delhi.

A shopkeeper prepares a food plate for Muslim devotees to break their fast on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Mumbai.

A shop owner along with a boy selling fast food waits for customers at a market on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in the old quarters of Delhi. - Mosques and market streets teem with evening crowds, tempted by the scent of syrupy sweets and hefty rice plates, as more than half a billion Muslims across southern Asia break the day's Ramadan fast.

A vendor selling sweets waits for customers on the first day of the holy fasting month of Ramadan in Kandahar.