Nakhoda Masjid has decided to hold two special prayers for Id-ul-Azha instead of one that was held pre-pandemic, a member of the mosque’s board of trustees said on Saturday.

The extra prayer will allow those who used to offer their Id prayers on Red Road, which has been cancelled, to offer the namaz in a mosque.

Tipu Sultan Masjid will not allow any congregation outside the mosque.

The Id-ul-Azha, also called Bakr Id, will be spent with caution both by the mosque authorities as well as families.

This would be the fourth Id — Id-ul-Fitr of 2020 and 2021, and Id-ul-Azha of 2020 and 2021 — since the Covid-19 pandemic started in India last year.

Celebrating Id has never been what it was till 2019, rued the families as well the mosque authorities.

“We will be having two special Id-ul-Azha prayers at our mosque on Wednesday. Usually, we had one special prayer. We are organising two prayers because the Red Road prayers have been cancelled. A number of people who used to pray in the open on Red Road would like to offer their namaz at our mosque,” said Nasser Ebrahim, one of the trustees of Nakhoda Masjid. “If we had only one prayer, it could have led to overcrowding....”

Hafiz Mohammad Haroon Rashid, the assistant imam of Tipu Sultan Masjid, said the mosque has taken a decision to not allow any congregation for Id prayers outside the mosque. “It becomes difficult to control the crowd if any congregation is allowed outside,” said Rashid.

Many families did not pray at the mosque during Id-ul-Fitr in May to avoid being in a crowd.

Some of them said they preferred to offer namaz with a select few friends and family members on the terrace than praying inside the closed environs of a mosque.

Some families have also avoided the Qurbani as the distribution of meat would have meant visiting relatives, many of whom have elderly members at their homes.

Park Circus resident Bilal Khan will spend his Id indoors. He has also asked his relatives not to visit their home to greet his 75-year-old mother, which has been the custom for years. Instead, they would do a video call.

“A big part of Id is about meeting and greeting, followed by a feast. That will not happen this year,” Khan, who lives in the family’s seven-decade old home at Park Circus, said.

Khan had offered the last Id prayers on the terrace of the family home with his brothers and friends. They had timed it in a way that it coincided with the prayers being offered at the nearest mosque.

Shaikh Sohail, a resident of Kidderpore, had offered the Id-ul-Fitr prayers with his father, uncle and cousin at the terrace in May. He plans to do the same on Wednesday.

“My father is 75 and I do not want to expose him to a crowd...,” said Sohail.