Christmas Day is celebrated every year on December 25 by billions of people across the world, mainly Christians, to mark the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ.
Christmas Day is a public holiday in several countries worldwide, including United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and the United States. Many government offices, educational institutions, etc. remain closed on this day.
The period of 12 of Christmas recognised as Christmastide or Twelvetide keeps the ball rolling until Epiphany Eve on January 5. This day is awaited by the people desperately and lots of preparations are initiated for worshipping Jesus Christ. This whole period is known as the ‘Advent season’ and begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas in all the churches.
Several popular traditions of Christmas Day 2019 comprises completing Advent wreaths or Advent calendar, sharing gifts, Christmas music, an exchange of Christmas cards, church services, a special meal, homecoming of Christmas trees, Christmas lights and Santa Claus, the representation of nativity sights, garlands, mistletoe and holly.
Folklore of Christmas Day
This day is being symbolically memorialised annually since the 4th century. The word Christmas has evolved from the old English ‘Cristes Maesse’ means the mass of Christ.
It is believed to be the natal day of Jesus Christ, the son of God. Although his birth date is anonymous, there is limited information available about his early life. It is said by the chronographers of the third century that this day is looked upon December 25, around the winter solstice. Although some other dates were also suggested like Christ was born in spring and fall, the primeval existing record of festivity to celebrate the birth of Christ in Western Church is in the Roman almanac called the Chronographer of 354, also recognised as the Philocalian Calendar. This almanac stated that the church in Rome marked this fiesta for celebrating Christ’s birth in the year 336. The Church sparked their interest for celebrating this fiesta at this particular time of the year to retaliate the pagan festivals encompassing the winter prominence. There is no factual evidence available which can incontrovertibly provide Rome’s justification for setting the date December 25 for Christmas.
How is Christmas Day Celebrated?
Christmas Day is still celebrated in a worldly manner. This is a crucial sales period for retailers and businesses. Many aspects of Christmas Day like gift-giving and formulating competitions has given rise to intensive economic activities.
Christians commemorate this day with great pomp and show. They wear new dresses, spend time with their families, attend special church services, sing carols, participate in special spiritual services and embellish their houses with lights, garlands and mistletoes. They also use mango leaves and banana for furbishing their houses. On this day, many schools and institutes organise the Christmas carnivals in which a lot of games and eatery stalls are arranged, beautiful decorations are done, competitions take place and carols are sung by the children.
Many malls and stores put Christmas trees and hire artists playing Santa Claus to distribute gifts among children. Several evening and candlelight amenities are held in the churches across the nations.
Various stores in the markets sell different kinds of candies, chocolates and cakes. Markets are illuminated with colourful decoration materials and Santa figures. Various sizes in Santa costumes and Christmas trees are also available in the markets or on the roadsides.
According to sources, nearly 24 million Christians in India solemnise Christmas Day. Non-Christians also bring Christmas trees in their houses and decorate them. The highest percentage of Christians are present in a few Indian states that celebrate this fiesta extensively.
- Tamil Nadu and Kerala in the southern part of India
- Goa on the west coast
- Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh in north-west India
Significance of Christmas
A new era loomed for the world when Jesus Christ was born. He came into this world because of the prevalent ignorance, hatred, greed, superstition and hypocrisy upon the land.
Purity and integrity were inculcated in the human beings living the life of lust, anger, deluded attachment, pride and jealousy. He gave a spiritual turn to the lives of the people and transformed their minds and hearts. This change filled the hearts of seekers with devotion, purity and spiritual aspiration. This Divine element began to express itself in the heart of a man and then light conquered the darkness.
This day carries a deep significance in the history of the world when the seeker found simplicity, holiness and abnegation of all desires for worldly wealth and pride of learning.
Christmas Day Food and Recipes
The best way to celebrate this auspicious day is by savouring heavenly and flavoursome dishes on the Christmas Eve. You can surely wow friends and families at your gatherings. Eventual Christmas preparations keep the ball rolling with decorating a Christmas tree, buying presents, wrapping them and systematising the best dinner menu full of appetizers, Christmas dinner side dishes and desserts. You can cover the feast with many Christmas dinner ideas in advance to make it the best Christmas ever.
Here are the straightforward Christmas recipes to relish. Whether it is a matter of alluring vegetarians or finicky eaters, every guest will surely be enticed with this wintery side dishes.
Apple Salad with Candied Walnuts and Cranberries
Ingredients:
1 red apple, quartered, seeds removed, finely sliced
A squeeze of lemon juice (to stop apple browning)
120 g mixed salad leaves (4 to 5 bug handfuls)
½ red onion finely sliced (wedge way, not half-moon)
¾ cup dried cranberries
2 tbsp feta or goat cheese crumbled
Candied Walnuts:
1 tbsp butter, salted
¼ cup white sugar
1 cup walnuts or pecans
Dressing:
2 tbsp cider vinegar
4 tbsp olive oil
1.5 tsp Dijon mustard
1.5 tsp white sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
Instructions:
Candied Nuts
- Place butter in a small non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add sugar after melting butter. Keep stirring until the sugar mostly melts.
- Add nuts when it starts bubbling a bit.
- Pour out on parchment paper-lined tray after stirring for 2 minutes.
- Spread nuts out and allow them to cool. Roughly chop half, leave some whole.
Plump Cranberries:
Place cranberries in a bowl and pour over freshly boiled water. Drain them after soaking for 10 minutes.
Apple:
Drizzle some lemon juice on apple and toss.
Assemble:
Place salad in a large bowl with half the apple slices and all the onion. Drizzle with half the dressing then toss.
Scatter over the cranberries, the desired amount of walnuts, remaining apple slices and feta. Drizzle with remaining dressing. Serve immediately.
Christmas Fudge
Ingredients:
2 cups of sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
12 marshmallows
½ cup unsalted butter
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions:
- Grease an 8*8 inch pan with non-stick foil and keep aside.
- In a 2 quart saucepan over medium heat, combine the sugar, milk, marshmallows, butter and salt. Cook, stirring constantly until the mixture is bubbling.
- Boil and stir for 5 minutes and remove from the heat. Stir in the chocolate chips until completely melted. Add the walnuts and vanilla.
- Spread into the prepared pan and cool it for 4 to 6 hours in the refrigerator before cutting.
- Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator or at room temperature.
Enjoy these homemade treat perfects in Christmastime!
Christmas Day Greetings, Quotes and Messages
In this season of amusement, the air smells festive and the days are heart-warming. The whole society commemorates this festival together by bidding goodbye to the previous year and wishes for a prosperous and peaceful new year. People share good wishes, pictures, quotes and greetings through various social media platforms like Whats app, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc. The smell of delicious foods fills the hearts with warmth in the cold December days. The streets reverberate with the sound of musical carols and happy laughter forgets each other’s grievances and celebrate the auspicious day together. People take out their precious time to greet and meet their near and dear ones. A lot of excitement can be seen amongst kids, adults and elderly people.
As the whole year is brimmed with the hard work and struggle to keep things together, it is magical to see everyone’s having a good time. Various apps or websites shared good collection of quotes for Christmas, Christmas greetings and shareable Christmas eCards.
Christmas Day Images on India Content
The India Content website has a huge stock of Christmas Day images. The high-quality pictures are available in three sizes-small, medium and large.
You can purchase various other content images from the https://www.indiacontent.in
