Many Muslims to begin fasting for month of Ramadan on Monday

People offer evening prayer at a mosque ahead of the Muslim month of Ramadan, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, June 5, 2016. Muslims across the world will be observing the holy fasting month of Ramadan, when they refrain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to dusk. (AP Photo/Shakil Adil) (The Associated Press)

Pakistani vendors prepare traditional vermicelli for the upcoming Muslim month of Ramadan, in Karachi, Pakistan, Sunday, June 5, 2016. Muslims across the world will be observing the holy fasting month of Ramadan, when they refrain from eating, drinking and smoking from dawn to dusk. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan) (The Associated Press)

A fishing boat moves through the Persian Gulf at sunset off the coast of Karzakan, Bahrain, Sunday, June 5, 2016. Bahrain announced that Monday would be the first day of the Islamic month of Ramadan, a time Muslims worldwide focus on prayer, fasting and charitable giving. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali) (The Associated Press)

Millions of Muslims around the world will mark the start of the holy month of Ramadan on Monday, a time marked by intense prayer, dawn-to-dusk fasting and nightly feasts.

Saudi Arabia's state TV announced the new moon of Ramadan was spotted Sunday evening. Local media in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, also said Muslims there would begin fasting Monday.

Muslims follow a lunar calendar and a moon-sighting methodology that can lead to different countries declaring the start of Ramadan a day or two apart.

The faithful spend the month of Ramadan in mosques for evening prayers and break their fast as the Prophet Muhammad did around 1,400 years ago, with a sip of water and some dates at sunset. During the day they abstain from eating and drinking.