Christmas

Merry notes of peace and festivity is in the air…….immerse in the spirit of Xmas!

The Christmas is round the corner, snowy winds and dazzling stars whispers “Its Christmas, lets celebrate the divine sacrifice Let’s celebrate love and compassion Let’s celebrate unity and forgiveness together”

Christmas projects joyous celebrations and festivity, people across the world celebrate Christmas on December 25 every year that marks and honors the birth of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the height of mercy who even in the crucified condition, prayed to forgive the people who have crucified him.

Caroling, feasting, and gift-giving along with the prayers and wishes, Christmas is celebrated with high spirits in various parts of the world. Though the mode of celebration, the dates and the traditions vary, the spirit remains the same everywhere. People buy new clothes, decorate the house and set up Christmas tree

Santa Claus- Father Christmas

Santa Claus or Santa is a lovable mythological character associated with the celebrations of Christmas festival. Santa Claus is known with different names like Saint Nicholas, Father Christmas and Kris Angle. Santa, according to western references, on the eve of Christmas comes riding on his one horse sleigh and brings gifts including candies and toys. As per the modern days illustrations Santa Claus is a fat old-bubbly man who wears a red coat-trousers with white cuffs and collars and wears black leather belt and boots. The origin of Santa Claus is associated with Saint Nicholas who was born in 4th century in Greece. St. Nicholas earned recognition and became famous for his religious services to Christianity and generosity of distributing the gifts to the poor. Being attributed with the distribution of Gifts, Santa Claus is much liked by Children around the world

Christmas Celebrations

Today, Christmas is celebrated on a grand-scale all over the world. There is lot of activity all around. So much enthusiasm is witnessed everywhere that people get high on the spirit of the festival. Balls, elaborately decorated Christmas trees, delicious cakes and Santa Claus moving in the streets distributing goodies to the children are the main attractions of the festival.

People visit friends and relatives on the day and participate in the masses held in churches. Children particularly enjoy the festival as they receive gifts from their favourite Santa and elders. They also love decorating scenes of Nativity in their houses. Exchanging cards has also become a very important part of the festivities.

Christmas Tree and Christmas Decorations

During the ten days long celebrations of Christmas or Xmas one thing among the others plays a pivot role that is called a Christmas Tree. As an integral part of the traditions associated with this festival, a Christmas Tree is bought and placed inside or outside the house and decorated with lots of colorful goodies like stars, balloons, candies, light-bulbs, teddies with an angle placed at the top as the host of the angles.

Food and feasting seem to be universal qualities of Christmas celebrations.

In India, the Christmas lunch menu is roast duck, sometimes pork and mince pies and rice dumplings. In the south, there are appams pancakes made of a batter of rice flour and coconut milk enjoyed with mutton stew. There is avial, murukku a fried pretzel made of lentil and rice flour and athirasam gracing the table alongside the Christmas pudding.

The Arabic Christmas meal often features meat or chicken, traditional refreshments and a dessert called Bûche de Noël, a French Christmas cake decorated to look like a yule log.

Traditionally throughout the Middle East people visit friends on Christmas morning and are offered coffee, liqueurs and sugared almonds. Lunch consists of chicken and rice, and kubbeh, which is made of crushed boiled wheat or burghul mixed with meat, onion, salt and pepper.

In the United Kingdom, Christmas pudding and mince pies are top fare. Turkey with all the trimmings, cranberry sauce and at least six vegetables are traditional.

In the Philippines, at Christmas people eat native foods such as puto bumbong rice steamed inside a bumbong, or small bamboo tube, bibingka rice cake with salted eggs and fresh coconut meat and suman steamed rice wrapped in banana leaves outside the church.

Traditional foods served for the evening meal are ham or roast pig, cheeses, spring rolls, noodle dishes, chestnuts, and hot tsokolate (a native chocolate drink) and salabat (ginger tea).

Christmas Celebration in Kerala

In Kerala people celebrate the event with great fervor and gaiety. People make advance arrangements i.e. about ten days before to welcome Christmas, colorful and brightly lit stars appear on the courtyard of houses, and shops will be filled with Christmas cards, delicious Christmas cakes and accessories as sending of greeting cards and Christmas cake prior to Christmas is so popular in Kerala.

During Christmas time children of the neighborhood form local carol troops and visit neighborhood homes and get their permission for the performance in their courtyards. The fattest and tallest among them make up for the Santa Claus. They sing, dance and play musical instruments. The party performs the show from house to house.

Each and every Christian home set the crib (Pul koodu) in which the images of infant Jesus along with cute dolls representing angels’ shepherds’ lambs’ etc. The crib is a miniature production of the stable where Jesus was born.

Priests hold mass in churches three times starting with the first at midnight. Just before the midnight mass, an image of the Child is brought by the priest, preceded by rows of Children holding lighted candles that are placed in the crib. The hymns are sung and crackers are burst to signify the coming of the Jesus Christ into the world. Christmas tree is another attraction now a day which is decorated with color papers and balloons. The celebrations are accompanied by a feast of special delicacies like wine with cake, bread with fish molly, appam with beef curry, rice with all sorts of side dishes.

In Kerala, it is a time for family reunion, gift exchange and exchange of Cakes among friends and relatives and a time to bond with each other forgetting cast and community barriers and to reflect on the divine and splendid messages of love, sacrifice and peace.

Christmas is truly a global celebration and the festival of Christmas conveys the message of affection, peace, brotherhood and fraternity among all so it transcends the barricades of color, caste and creeds and celebrated by non-Christians as well, all over the world. Enjoy this Christmas season and spread the love and lofty ideologies of this holy event.