Yuletide spirit grips Mizoram as state gears up for Christmas, New Year celebration

Aizawl, Dec 23 (PTI) Christian-majority Mizoram has fully soaked in the yuletide spirit, with Christmas carols and songs echoing in the streets, churches and almost every households, and people both old and young eagerly waiting to celebrate the festival.

This time, Mizoram will witness the 155th year of the Christmas celebration.

Preparations have begun in all churches, with the buildings and courtyards being decorated.

Members of different churches, mostly youths, were seen singing Christmas songs and hymns, spreading the message of peace and joy.

All streets in the state capital and other towns have been decked up to mark the festive season.

Many NGOs, churches and groups have been gathering charity and reaching out to orphanages, jails, rehabilitation centres and hospitals with generous gifts. In the state capital Aizawl and some district headquarters, music concerts are being organised to collect donations to help the poor and the needy.

"Giving presents is one of the true essences of Christmas as it symbolises the love of God," Reverend Lalhmingmawia, a pastor from Mizoram Presbyterian Church, said.

People came out in large numbers for pre-Christmas shopping in the markets in the capital as well as district headquarters.

The state government has imposed a 'no vehicle zone' in busy places in Aizawl and other district headquarters on December 23, 24 and 31 for the benefit of the public during pre-Christmas and New Year shopping.

"Markets and malls are reporting higher footfalls than previous years," Lalhlimpuii, who runs a garment shop in Aizawl's Bara Bazaar, told PTI.

The government has also organised a Christmas-related costume parade mass carol on Tuesday to convey the message of love, peace and joy on the occasion of Christ's birth.

For Mizos, Christmas is also a time for family reunion as they give due importance to celebrating the event with their families. Many residents, including students, who worked and studied in towns or outside the state, returned to their villages to be reunited with their families.

"I am happy to reunite with my family this Christmas for the first time since I have been away from home for more than 10 years," Lalthianghlimi, a 26-year-old youth from Saitual district who works in Goa, said.

Historians recorded that the first Christmas was celebrated in Mizoram’s soil in 1871, not by Mizos but by the invading colonial British troops near Tuivai River on the present Mizoram-Manipur border and the Mizo warriors attacked the soldiers during the celebrations.

In Mizoram, three-day Christmas celebration starts from the evening of December 24, with 'urlawk zan' or pre-night celebration, and ends on December 26.

While December 25 is usually sanctified for worship, during which church services, sermons and 'zaikhawm' (congregational singing service) are held to mark the celebration, December 26 is generally marked with traditional community feasts, an integral part of Christmas for the Mizos.

While bigger denominations like Presbyterian Church and Baptist Church of Mizoram (BCM) will hold traditional community feasts on December 26, some indigenous churches will organise traditional feasts from December 25.

The spirit of Christmas is fervently high in rural areas where the celebration sometimes lasts even a week. PTI CORR ACD