Christmas the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ, is celebrated in India with great fervor all over India by the Christians.

People decorate their houses, erect Christmas trees, make cribs with figures of baby Jesus, Mother Mary, Joseph, the three kings who come to visit the baby and shepherd boys and their herds grazing around depicting the scenes of Jesus's Birth in the Bible. They decorate the Christmas tree, hang stars, gifts and illuminate them.

On the Christmas day, people enjoy a sumptuous Christmas lunch. Christmas cakes and wine are served to visitors and exchanged as gifts among friends and relatives.

Christmas celebrations vary in different parts of India. In some parts, small clay oil-burning lamps, mango leaves etc are used as Christmas decorations and mango and banana trees are decorated. All the major Indian cities wear a festive look. Shops and bazaars are decorated for the occasion and offer attractive bargains.
Carol singing, get-togethers and the exchanging of gifts enhance the Christmas spirit. Christmas parties launch off celebrations for the New year, thus retaining the festive mood for at least a week.

Christians all over the world celebrate the birth or Nativity of Jesus Christ, the founder of Christianity, on 25th of December every year.
This is the most important and the gayest festival of the Christians. Other communities in India also look upon it as a festival of goodwill and greetings. During the British period it was celebrated on an All-India basis and the ten days from the Christmas Eve i.e the evening of 24th December till after the New year were declared as public holidays. Children and youngsters looked forward to Christmas holidays when they enjoyed themselves to their heart's content. It was also during the British period that the Christian missions penetrated to the interior of India even to the tribal regions, resulting in the number of people who were converted to Christian faith. This resulted in the Christians becoming the third most important community in India.

After India achieved independence from the sovereignty of the British, this festival lost much of its official importance; yet the tradition of celebrating it that was left behind by the British continues even to this day specially in metropolitan cities of Calcutta, Delhi, Bombay and Madras where Christians as well as non-Christians celebrate it on quite a grand scale.

Shops and homes take on a festive air. Streets and markets go gay with festival wares. Dances, songs, Christmas trees, Santa Claus moving through the streets with his glittering colorful robes, glowing long white beard and shaking hand with children in the streets form the main attraction of this festival. Families get together around sparkling Christmas trees from whose branches hang numerous lovely gifts. When the youngsters receive the gifts and open them, they dance with joy. Both men and women, young and old take pains in designing the cribs, sheep and shepherds, old Joseph, young Virgin Mary, Child Jesus nestling in his cradle of hay, angels floating in the star-studded sky and the Three Wise Men on the fringe of horizon.

The day is spent in meeting friends and relatives. Delicious dishes of turkey, wine and Christmas cakes are eaten and served to visitors. Greeting cards to wish joy and peace are exchanged. The night is enlivened with dances, carols and mid-night masses in all the churches. Youngsters dance hilariously on the streets singing carols to the accompaniment of musical instruments. The most popular carol is :- "Silent night, holy night All is calm, all is bright Round yon Virgin Mother and Child Holy infant so tender and mild Sleep in heavenly peace." .

Even upcoming artists get a chance to perform along with well-established artists. Thus the Christmas season is rung in with a feeling of happiness and goodwill amidst the clouds of discontent.