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ISLAMABAD: Eid is a festivity linked with happiness and joy after the fasting month of Ramadan. Though the present era has brought quick changes in its trends, yet people love to celebrate the Eid Day with various age old traditions which add color and beauty to the occasion.

May it be the colourful and glittering bangles or the intricate henna patterns on the hands of damsels, the traditional aura remains in the air. Girls who rarely wear jewelry in everyday life, enjoy wearing bangles on this special day as an addition to their Eid preparations. The choice is wide, ranging from glass bangles to the trendy metal wear, however the selection lies with the taste as well as the combination of the Eid clothes.

Sadia, a teenage girl at the stall of bangles said, "I don't like wearing more than a delicate bracelet in my wrist while going to college. However, for Eid Day, I especially buy lots of colourful bangles to match my clothes. To celebrate Eid in its traditional spirit is really worth relishing."

Colour of the occasion is also supplemented with the aroma of henna. For any young girl or woman, the festival is simply incomplete with out a dash of deep  brown or black twirls on their hands and feet. Henna is tradition, and today this tradition is also rather trendy. "A day before Eid, Chand Raat, I with my other friends apply intricate or abstract henna patterns on our hands and arms. I can't imagine Eid without the custom of applying henna."

Once all aspects of vanity have been settled, the day brings time to indulge the trolley that will be brought out to feed the horde of guests on the two days of festival. In this too, family traditions and handed down recipes of sweet delicacies are brought in. Some prefer Sheer Khurma or Vermicelli (Sawayyan) and others are partial to Kheer.

Mrs Kamal Hassan, a housewife said, "My children are used to take bread and cornflakes in the morning. However, on Eid Day the breakfast is the most special treat for them when Sheer Khurma replaces the conventional items of menu."

Eidi, which is a money gift from elders to younger ones of the family is another tradition of the day. Receiving Eidi brings happiness especially among the children who spend it in buying sweets and other items of their choice. The older traditions have passed on to the younger generation that owe to the real colour as well as flavour to the special day of Eid.