Feast of Sacrifice in Xiaguan Mosque,  Dali China Sep-2015

Dali is the capital city of the Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture. The city was built in 1832 as a city of the ancient states of Nanzhao and Dali. I came to Dali with a local bus from Shangri-La just before the religious holiday of the Muslims, Feast of Sacrifice. Before my trip, I had prepared a sketch of the Xiaguan mosque, which is the city's important mosque. I went to the mosque and met the imam and explained to him about my work. I asked her permission to photograph the Sacrifice Festival ceremonies. He accepted. The eid prayer started with the gathering of Muslims living in the city in the mosque courtyard in the morning. They entered the mosque together; and prayed and then they performed the eid prayer together. After the prayer, a part of the congregation prayed together with the imam in front of the building where the victims would be slaughtered in the courtyard of the mosque. Then the imam himself slaughtered six cattle bought by the congregation for the sacrifice. Slaughtered cattle with the participation of congregation members were cut into pieces and distributed evenly among congregation members. 24.Sept.2015