In Kolkata, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee made it a point to walk across to Muslim dominated pockets like Topsia, Park Circus and Kaurya in the eastern part of the city and greet people.

The Trinamool Congress supremo also visited the family of Rizwanur Rahman, a Muslim youth who was mysteriously found dead by the railway tracks exactly two years ago.

The body of the 30-year-old graphic designer, was found nearly a month after he married industrialist Ashok Todi's daughter Priyanka.

Clerics in Uttar Pradesh had a noble cause in mind in their sermons -- to help eradicate polio.

'Soon after the congregational prayers were over at Aishbagh Eidgah (the biggest prayer ground in the city), I asked them (Muslims) to take a pledge to eradicate polio... The resistance among Muslims towards anti-polio drops has come down as a result of our efforts,' Maulana Khalid Rasheed, a prominent Sunni cleric who heads Lucknow's oldest seminary, told IANS.

Down south, while Hyderabad exuded the warmth of Eid through prayers, greetings and charity, Kerala saw people attending prayers in droves with even superstars joining in.

Around 300,000 men and children gathered at the historic Mir Alam Eidgah in Hyderabad. Similar congregations were held at the Mecca Masjid, Public Garden mosque, the Eidgah Hockey Ground and the Military Grounds.

Before offering prayers Muslim families paid 'fitra' or charity on behalf of each member as per Islamic rules to enable the poor to also celebrate the festival.

In Kerala, superstar Mammootty joined thousands in the festivities by praying at an Eidgah in Kochi.

Dressed in a white dhoti and shirt and sporting the traditional Muslim cap, the actor sat through the morning prayers.

Eid celebrations were more visible and elaborate in the Muslim-dominated districts of Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargode in north Kerala.

Orissa's coastal town of Bhadrak, where half the population is Muslim, a grand prayer meeting was held that was attended by more than 10,000 people.