Christmas is the time of spreading love and joy. The Yuletide spirit pervades in every part of the world. In India, where Hindu population is the majority, have many Christians as well. Patna, the capital of Bihar, has a good number of Christian populations residing in harmony with other religious communities. During the Christmas season, all the religious communities in the city celebrate this festival.
All the churches are illuminated and decorated with holly leaves, stars and Christmas trees. Themes from the Bible are created in the churches. The homes of the faithful are decorated with lights, stars and trees. The message of love and brotherhood is spread with families and friends distributing gifts. Spirit of love is in the air during the celebrations. This same spirit is found during christian matrimony functions.
Christians turn up in huge number on the eve of Christmas and attend the midnight mass. This is the time of festivities and carnivals are organized. Children and adults sings Christmas carols and many are dresses as Santa Claus. People, Christians and non-Christian visit the houses to share the joy and fun.
The markets have all the Christmas paraphernalia displayed. Items like Santa caps, fairies, starlight trees, candy sticks and plum cakes attract buyers. Shops near churches and in popular markets in the city stock them in advance.
The churches in the city donated warm clothes to the needy. Christmas spirit is incomplete without less fortunate brethren not receiving gifts. There are also cultural activities organized by the churches and the rich and poor participating. The missionary schools in the city also distributed cakes, sweets and candies.
This is the occasion when one likes to spend time with near and dear ones. These same emotions are reflected during the christian matrimonial functions. The various rituals not only bring the family closer, but the fun-element in the rituals reinvigorates the human bonds.
Author: Shipra Sinha
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