The three essentials of Eid

Topis depict intrinsic designs besides the simple white coloured ones.Photo: Afsar Ahmed

Topi: The head apparel
Wearing a new topi, the prayer hat, on the Eid morning has a traditional appeal more than religious significance. As people are getting more fashion conscious, the styles in topi have changed a lot. Fascination for white crochet topi or shuti (cotton) topi is very common.

To young people, however, colourfully designed topi is more stylish. 'I'll definitely buy a colourful topi on this Eid which will suit my personality,' says Milon, who is fascinated by the design of the topi of Brunei's Sultan.

In contrast, Haji Aminullah--an elderly person buying a white Jinnah topi, says, 'The colour white has the charm of holiness and the lure of white topi is decent, sober and elegant.'

Bead dazzled
Made of precious materials like ivory, amber, seashell, turquoise, coral, crystal, even gold, silver and various types of wood, the colourful and exotic tasbih of 100 beads is the Muslim prayer beads. Akin to the Christian rosaries, Greek's komboloi, Buddhists' malas, Muslims have tasbih that originated from Istanbul.

Counting the tasbih has been a part of the Muslim culture. The word 'tasbih' means 'to praise God', 'to praise God in hymns', and 'to pray to God'. The beads on a tasbih are divided into three sets by slightly larger beads; each bead stands for one of the names of Allah.

'Tasbih made from gold, silver, amber, pearl, coral and other organic materials such as ivory, whale tooth, tortoiseshell, horn, camel bone and wood including snake wood, ebony, blood wood, olive, rosewood, tamarind, tulip wood, satinwood, sugar maple, teak and Burmese sandalwood are quite expensive,' says Kamran--a tasbih seller near the Baitul Mukarram Mosque. 'Artificial beads have reasonable price starting from Tk. 20 onwards.' Tasbih made of fragrant woods are kept in closed boxes to retain the fragrance. In Ottoman times, rock crystal beads were preferred in summer for their cool feeling when touched and for the play of light diffracted by the facets.

Jainamaz: The prayer mat
To a Muslim the significance of jainamaz, the prayer mat, is sacred, blessed and timeless. But the intrinsic beauty of the designs of jainamaz can charm any people.

Originated in Persia and the Arab countries, floral motifs are the highlights of the designs in jainamaz. The materials of jainamaz vary from wool to velvet, synthetic to cotton, and jute. It has an artistic appeal as the designers and weavers of jainamaz apply their creativity with subtle imagination. That is why each jainamaz turns into an aesthetic artwork.

The most traditional designs are the floral compositions with an outline of a mosque embossed in the mat. There was a time when we had our own traditional jainamz kantha--a rug used for prayers made by village women with magnificent stitches on it. Although those days are gone, we still have satranji having traditional colourful geometrical designs on it to use as jainamaz.

'But everyone likes foreign jainamaz especially those from Iran and Saudi Arabia,' says Akram, who has an array of splendid collection in his shop. A comparatively new jainamaz contains a magnetic compass embedded on it that helps one to identify the exact direction of the Holy Kaaba. The prices of such jainamaz range from Tk. 350 to Tk. 500.