Christmas is one the most
happening festivals all over the world. Though most of us know that it is
celebrated as the Birth of Jesus Christ, yet it symbolizes a deep, significant
truth of the spiritual life. People believe that Jesus Christ was born when the
world was taken up by ignorance, superstition, greed and hatred; Jesus’ birth
brought the transformation in the lives of people.
Not just for the festival, but
Christmas is celebrated for the memories. From children to older people,
everybody eagerly awaits entire year for the festival to come, thinking about
the gifts.
How can you make this Christmas special for yourself and your kids?
Christmas is a great time to make
memories, sure your kids and elders of your family must be thinking about the
Christmas Gifts. Not just the gifts,
you can make this Christmas special by spending your valuable time with your
kids and loved ones. But how? Following traditions is the Key. Make your family
come together and kick-start the celebrations by doing this-
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Follow some simple traditions like decorating
the tree. Before going into that, let’s understand the significance of the
Christmas Tree. Also called as Fir
tree, this traditional tree is used to celebrate winter festivals for thousands
of years. Fir trees were brought inside and lit with candles as a symbol of
hope that the spring would bless with plenty of crops and food for the year.
Similar to the X-mas tree, Christmas candles also have a significant role in
the celebration. Jesus is called as ‘Light of the world’ by many. This has led
to the custom of lighting the candles in the name of the lord during the
festival.
So, make your family know this
and start decorating your X-mas tree with beautiful
Flowers, candles, and other decorative stuff.
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Helping others- knowingly or unknowingly most of
us do not realize that others are not as fortunate as we are, so helping them
in any way possible could be the best way to celebrate. Here comes the Santa!
Santa Claus (though it may be a myth) is known as the patron saint for poor,
especially the widows and children. It is a belief that Santa used to leave
bags of money and gifts near the doorstep of the low-income families in secret.
Over time his generosity was remembered by people giving gifts to children in
secret.
So, why can’t we be the Santa for
this year’s eve and help the poor? Let us spread not just the money, but our
love and celebration. Lets’ show the kids and younger generation how to help
others by giving back to the community; this can truly become a family tradition
during the Christmas and carry on
from generation to generation.
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Spend time together- As Christmas comes with New
year celebrations, most of them tend to meet at a common place to celebrate.
Make the best use of this valuable time and play around with it as much as you
can. Go for the dinner, plan an event, or plan fun things for the elders and
children. Keep your gadgets aside and be with your family because being
together is always precious.
How is Christmas celebrated in India?
Being a Secular country,
Christmas is celebrated not just by the Christian community but by people of
all religions. However, Christmas euphoria in India is largely based on the
American media depiction. Days before the festival begins, marketers create the
hype with traditional Christmas tree, stars, Santa images, balloons, and gifts.
Basically, it all begins with
shopping! People start preparations for the traditional Christmas cake which
the family and the neighbours have been waiting for. Christmas gifts are bought
for friends, relatives and kids in the family. Christmas is also a time for
family reunions; people living in different cities rush back to their homes,
come together at one place to celebrate Christmas with near and dear ones.
In India, Christmas is celebrated
differently in different states because of the local cultural influence.
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In South India, Christians light clay lamps on
the rooftops and walls of their houses, the way Hindus decorate their homes
during the Diwali.
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In some
states, there is a popular custom of decorating banana or mango tree instead of
a traditional pine tree.
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In northwest India, the tribal Christians go out
night after night for a week during
Christmas
to sing their equivalent of carols the whole night.
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In Mumbai, which has one of the largest Roman
Catholic communities in India, there is a tradition to depict nativity scenes
and decorate home with big stars.
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A most exciting celebration of Christmas can be
seen in Goa. People from various places, including International tourists, reach
Goa during
Christmas festival to
watch the cultural beauty of Christmas celebrations. Catholics in Goa
participate in the traditional midnight mass services locally called Missa de
Galo or Cock Crow as they go on well into early hours of the morning. The
Carnival, preceding Lent, is the most important event at Goa; this is similar
to Mardi Gras in New Orleans.
Christmas and the cakes
Any festival, especially
Christmas is incomplete without the cake. If you ask anyone that which is the
one thing they miss about Christmas during the year, the answer would be a
CAKE!
Not just for the taste, but the
cake is a part of traditional cuisine for Christmas. However, this cuisine
varies in different parts of the world, but the cake, chocolates and cookies
remain common. Christmas cake was begun as plum porridge; people ate the
porridge on Christmas Eve to line their stomachs after a day of fasting. Soon
people started adding honey, spices and eventually it turned into Christmas
pudding.
Later, oatmeal or porridge was
removed from the original recipe and butter, flour, and eggs were added; these
ingredients helps hold the mixture together and resulted in the boiled
Plum Cake. People then started using
dried fruits and spices, and that’s how
Christmas Cake has come up.
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