Christmas, Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world.
Christmas Day is a public holiday in many of the world's nations, is celebrated religiously by a majority of Christians, as well as culturally by many non-Christians.
Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion.
During this time people exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive.
The legend of Santa Claus can be traced back to a monk named St. Nicholas who was born in Turkey around 280 A.D.. St. Nicholas gave away all of his inherited wealth and traveled the countryside helping the poor and sick, becoming known as the protector of children and sailors.
St. Nicholas first entered American popular culture in the late 18th century in New York, when Dutch families gathered to honor the anniversary of the death of "Sint Nikolaas" (Dutch for Saint Nicholas), or "Sinter Klaas" for short. "Santa Claus" draws his name from this abbreviation.
kids celebrate Christmas in different parts of the world and get some interesting insights about Christmas traditions and celebrations.
At Christmas, Christians all over the world celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Traditional Christmas decoration often can be admired and festive celebrations can be joined in most countries, even in many of the countries where Christianity is not the religion of the majority of people.
Christmas trees are a popular decoration as are tiny sparkling lights in windows and on walls.
In many regions in France, Christmas celebrations start with St Nicholas day on the 6th of December. Then children get sweets and little gifts.
In Italy, a nativity scene, a ‘presepe’, is usually put up in churches, town squares and often in homes. This is for many the most important part of the Christmas decorations.
In England, most people start with Christmas decorations early, that is as early as mid of November. Many families decorate their houses with lots of fairy lights and sparkling displays. Often the house owners collect donations from visitors to their displays in aid of local charities. So remember if you like a display place some spare coins into the honesty boxes and help the good causes.
There are so many Christmas traditions in the United States: trimming your Christmas tree, baking holiday cookies, and families get together for a festive meal after exchanging gifts.
Compared to other religious festivals, Christmas is quite a small festival in India, due to the number of people who are Christians.
One of the largest Indian Christian Communities in a city is in Mumbai. A lot of the Christians in Mumbai (previously known as Bombay) are Roman Catholics. In India's smallest state, Goa which is on the west of India, about 26% of people are Christians.
Christians in Goa love to celebrate Christmas! Goa has lots of 'western' customs as part of their Christmas as Goa has historical connections with Portugal. Most Christians in Goa are Catholics. People like to go carol singing around their neighbors for about a week before Christmas.
In South India, in the state of Kerala Were, most of the population are Christians and Christmas is an important festival. Traditional Catholics fast don't eat from 1st to 24th of December - until the midnight service. Every house will be decorated with a Christmas star. During the start of the Christmas season, almost all the stationary shops will be filled with new and variety Christmas stars. People make cribs in their homes and Churches.
In India, Father Christmas or Santa Claus delivers presents to children from a horse and cart. He's known as 'Christmas Baba' in Hindi, 'Baba Christmas' in Urdu (both of those mean Father Christmas); 'Christmas Thaathaa' in Tamil and 'Christmas Thatha' in Telugu (both of those mean Christmas old man); and 'Natal Bua' (Christmas Elder Man) in Marathi. In Kerala state, he's known as 'Christmas Papa'.
Christmas gift ideas