Muslims in Sri Lanka will celebrate Eid al-Adha — the Hajj festival — on Thursday, May 28, the Colombo Grand Mosque announced on Sunday.
The Mosque and the Moon Sighting Committee confirmed that the crescent moon marking the start of Dhul Hijjah, the 12th and final month of the Islamic lunar calendar, was not sighted in Sri Lanka on May 17. Accordingly, the new month begins on Monday, May 19, and the Hajj festival, which always falls on the 10th day of Dhul Hijjah, will be observed on May 28.
Arafat Day, on which Hajj pilgrims gather at Mount Arafat near Mecca and which Muslims worldwide observe with fasting, falls on Wednesday, May 27.
Eid al-Adha — the Festival of Sacrifice — commemorates the willingness of the Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son in submission to God, and is one of the two major festivals in the Islamic calendar alongside Eid al-Fitr. Communities typically mark the day with congregational prayers, the ritual sacrifice of livestock, and the distribution of meat to family, neighbours and the poor.
The announcement follows the first batch of 325 Sri Lankan pilgrims departing for Saudi Arabia on May 1, with a total national quota of 3,500 pilgrims for the 2026 season. The main group of pilgrims arrived in Jeddah in the days that followed.
The Colombo Grand Mosque and the Moon Sighting Committee are the authoritative bodies for determining Islamic lunar calendar dates in Sri Lanka, coordinating their announcements with regional moon sightings across South Asia.
