Religious fervour and a spirit of brotherhood marked Youm-e-Ashoora, the 10th day of the month of Muharram. Special prayers and majlis were organised across the city to mark the occasion while youngsters distributed food to the needy.

Mourners took out tazias (miniature representations of tombs) of various shapes and sizes to commemorate the death of Imam Hussain, a grandson of Prophet Muhammad. Beautifully decorated tazias made of wood, thermocol, fluorescent paper, strings and flowers were placed at various locations in city.

Replicas of Imam Hussain's horse Duldul were placed with swords, arrows, bridles and quivers. A tazia over a100-years-old, with a replica of Duldul, was displayed at Langartoli Imambada.

"Every year, the tazias is cleaned and painted before Muharram. On the seventh day of Muharram, we place strings of flowers on the tazia and put some soil under it. The procession is carried out on the 11th day of Muharram and a march to Dargah, near Panther ki Masjid is conducted," said Mohammad Imtiyaz Querashi, the head of the Imambada.

Mohammad Azam, a jewellery shop owner, said: "Every year, we place tazia at our home which is made of pure silver. This tradition was followed in my family for four generations. Apart from silver, we also took procession of decorative tazia made of wood and thermocol."

The main procession on Wednesday was taken out from Bouli Masjid to Shah Baquir ki Takiya at Meena Bazaar in Patna City. Thousands gathered in the evening for the shaam-e-ghariban organised by Anjuman-e-Haidariya (a religious organisation) at Shah Baquir ki Takiya.

The secretary of the organisation, Mirza Shabbar Nawaz, said the battle of Karbala is narrated in the majlis. "It is the night of the helpless and Imam Hussein and their army tents were burnt down and their women and children were taken captives. In this majlis, lights are switched off during Maghrib (around 6pm) till late night, and candles are lit. Devotees pour water on the tazias," he added. Many devotees observed fast and wore black clothes to pay tribute to Imam Hussain's family and his army.

"The recitation of nohay (poems expressing sorrows) and majlis brought tears. It makes us feel the sorrow of Hussain and his 72 followers felt during the battle of Karbala. They were denied food and water and many of them were killed, that is why we fast on 10th day of Muharram," said Aamir Ansari, a Shia cleric.