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इतिहास
The history, origin and significance of Christmas — where it comes from, what it means, and how it changed over time.
Christmas 2026: 25 December 20261 dayक्रिसमस
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Christmas, called Bada Din in much of India, is celebrated on 25 December and marks the birth of Jesus Christ. In India it is a public holiday nationwide, and it is the country's largest non-Hindu festival by participation — celebrated well beyond the Christian community as a general festive season.
The Christian community in India is about 2.3% of the population, concentrated in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, the Northeast and Mumbai, with significant populations in every major city and in the tribal districts of Jharkhand, Odisha and central India. Christmas practices therefore vary considerably, blending European colonial traditions with local Indian forms.
Midnight mass on Christmas Eve is the central observance, followed by a family meal. In Kerala and Goa, the traditions are strongly influenced by Portuguese and Syrian Christian practice, with dishes such as appam and stew in Kerala and sorpotel and bebinca in Goa. In the Northeast, Christmas is the biggest festival of the year, with community feasts and carol-singing through December, and Nagaland and Mizoram effectively shut down for the period.
The commercial side is enormous. Christmas has become a general Indian festive season alongside Diwali, with cake shops, malls, restaurants and online retailers running campaigns through December. The plum cake is the Indian Christmas food par excellence, and it is sold in cities with very small Christian populations, which makes it a good illustration of how far the festival has travelled beyond its religious base.
Almost every large Indian festival means something different in different states. That is not a contradiction — it is the history.
The largest Christian population in India proportionally. Christmas is marked with star lanterns at every window, midnight mass in Malayalam, appam and stew breakfast, and the Kerala plum cake. The Coonan Cross and Syrian Christian liturgies are distinct from Latin-rite practice.
Portuguese-influenced Christmas with midnight mass, sorpotel, bebinca, and community carol-singing. The state's Christmas and New Year season is a major tourist period.
Christmas is the largest festival of the year in these states, with carol competitions from early December, church services, community feasts, and in Nagaland and Mizoram near-total shutdown of business for the period.
A significant Christian population, particularly in the Kanyakumari and Tuticorin districts, with midnight mass in Tamil and a Christmas meal that centers on rice preparations and cake.
Observed by the Christian community with midnight mass in Hindi or English, and cake and decoration widely adopted by non-Christian households as a general December season.
Large midnight masses in Bandra and the East Indian parishes, with the Ranwar and Khotachiwadi Christmas traditions and a very visible street-level celebration.
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