Christmas Across India

Christmas is the grand festival celebrated across the globe right before the year is about to end. And the New Year celebration is the best way to ring in another beautiful year filled with hope and opportunities. These two occasions are observed within one week, which gives people more reasons to celebrate. Goa: Known for its excellent beaches and legendary nightlife, Goa is the best place to celebrate Christmas in India. With its Portuguese legacy and Catholic population, Christmas here is marked with a gripping fervor. The churches and homes are decorated with beautiful lights and poinsettia flowers while children sing Christmas carols late into the night. People of all ages line up at the churches to participate in a midnight mass. Christmas in Goa is very famous and also attracts thousands of tourists from different parts of the country and abroad to its shore who come to witness this festival in all its colors. Shillong: This amazing northeastern city in Meghalaya has a considerable population of Christians who celebrate the birth anniversary of Christ with some pomp and glory, which makes it a picturesque place to celebrate Christmas in northeast India. The streets, the churches, and the homes are decorated with beautiful lights and one can easily feel the excitement in the air. The midnight mass sees huge crowds pour into the churches of the city with bands playing soulful gospel music. The beauty of the region, its food, and the general excitement for Christmas makes being here a memorable experience. Kolkata: A colonial stronghold back in the day, Kolkata has a very strange relationship with Christmas. Even though there aren’t many Christians in the city leaving out the Anglo-Indian community, Kolkata is a place in India where the Christmas celebration is like its own festival. The churches are decorated, the streets are lit up and people of all ages go out shopping. For many though Christmas means delicious cakes and the bakeries in town are usually overflowing with customers during Christmas.