The festival of Christmas celebrates the birth of
Jesus Christ and conveys his message of love, tolerance and brotherhood.
It's a celebration of humanity and mankind. Though Christmas is a
primary festival of the Christian calendar but still it has a special
significance in everyone's life. It is celebrated as a universal
festival through out the nation. The first mention of 25th December as
the birth date of Jesus occurred in 336 A.D. in an early Roman calendar.
That day onwards this date is celebrated as the birth date of Jesus. In
India this festival has a special significance since India is known for
its unity in diversity worldwide. The celebration of Christmas shows
that even people from different religion takes part in Christmas
celebration just as the Indian Christians do. And because of European
influence on the country for so long the religion has spread across the
country. The doctrines and philosophies of Christianity converted people
of many sects to Christianity and today, there is a large Christian
community thriving in India that has adopted the Christians festivals as
a part of Indian culture as well. However, many of the rituals of these
Christian festivals have been modified to suit the climatic conditions
of the land.
Christmas is the most important festival of Indian Christians.
Christians in India decorate banana or mango trees instead of
traditional pine tree. They also light small oil-burning lamps as
Christmas decorations and fill their churches with red flowers. As a
part of their celebration they give
Christmas
gifts to their family members and token of money to poor people as
charity. People decorate their houses and churches with poinsettia
flowers for the midnight mass. In South India, the Christians put small
clay lamps on the rooftops and walls of their houses at Christmas, just
as the Hindus do during their festival called Diwali. In Goa, all hotels
are jampacked during Christmas period and one must plan well in advance
if planning a stay in one of the
Goa hotels. The
local Indian customs and tradition and customs have a heavy impact on
the Indian Christian. And this is visible in their decoration as many
Indian Christians decorate their houses with mango leaves. Churches
often have an Evening Service on Christmas and are fabulously decorated
with poinsettias and candles. Caroling processions on streets and
thoroughfares can also be seen.
An Outlaw Christmas
In the early 17th century, a
wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in
Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in
1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their
effort, cancelled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored
to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.
The pilgrims,
English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more
orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas
was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration
of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the
Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.
After the American Revolution,
English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact,
Christmas wasn't declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.
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