Chand raat itself not a festival but it is a celebration related to the eid-ul-fitr. Chaand raat don’t have religious significance but has cultural importance. It is mostly celebrated in south-Asian countries. On chaand raat people hang out with friends or go out for shopping with family.

Sighting of the crescent of “Shawal brings an air of joy with it. People spent many days for eid preparations and chaand raat is an amazing opportunity to give it a final touch. Girls usually buy bangles and mehndi that night.

As eid-ul-fitr is celebrated according to the lunar calendar so there is no date fixed date for it. Every year “shawal” comes 10 days earlier. (If one year its 31st of august then next year it probably will be 20 to 22nd of august and so on…) since chaand raat don’t fall in particular month or season so the celebration may change a bit because of changing season but nobody can miss the most important part of chaad raat that is “applying mehndi”.

Girls apply mehndi on chaand raat so it will look fresh and will be darker on the special day of eid. The girls who apply mehndi frequently know that it fades out with time and the best colour last only for couple of days! So that’s why girls apply it the previous night of the festival so it will look perfect on that occasion. Girls apply mehndi on theirs and each other’s hands. The girls having a talent of applying better designs are mostly over-burdened on chaand raat as they have to apply mehndi on their friends’ and family members’ hands. Mostly they are too tired to apply mehndi on their own hands.

Buildings and shops are decorated for this special occasion. People living in big cities have an opportunity to go out and enjoy the night while in rural areas people mostly celebrate chaad raat at home. But it doesn’t decrease their enthusiasm for this special occasion. Because chand taat has its own charm and it bring a lot of happiness and joy for all the Muslims across south Asia. One of the two most important festivals celebrated by muslims eid-ul-fitr is celebrated after it. Since it is a religious festival, so it begins with a special prayer for eid. After that Muslims gives fitrana and spent the rest of day feasting and celebrating!