The very first time I arrived in India I stepped out of the car from the airport and heard a very familiar tune…. I stood there for a moment observing the Diwali lights and realized that I was hearing Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells coming from the lights at the house across the street from my husbands home. The second time I visited was the day after Christmas and you could see homes here and there throughout New Delhi with their Christmas lights and Christmas stars in their windows. Christmas is observed in India if you look for it.
India has mainly Hindu and Muslim however over the years Christmas has become an annual ritual celebrated by many. There are around 3% of the population who are Christians that attend a midnight mass where the churches are decorated with poinsettias and lit with many candles. However you can also observe it being celebrated in a secular way by finding Christmas trees in the malls, upscale hotels, and in front of some sweet and card stores at Christmas time.
When I discussed Christmas with my husbands family who live in New Delhi, which is a very large city, they said that in their family the did observe Christmas. They had the day off from work and from school, which is common for many holidays in India. They said that they exchanged one gift with each other. My mother in law even mentioned that she had Christmas Performances at her school which was run by Christian missionaries. I’m sure other regions in India are different as well.
I’m so excited to share with you ways that are family is teaching our children about their heritage from India. Here’s a fun way to create an ornament using your child’s initial in another language. We choose to make both girls first initial in Hindi to hang on our Christmas Tree. My sister in law had this brilliant idea last Christmas and shared it on her website, Niwas – Where Our Heart Belongs. She wanted me to share this with our readers too!
Personalized Hindi Ornaments
To make simply use a glass ornament and hot glue sequins onto it using the outline of the letter your child’s name starts with. Click here for the Hindi alphabet and resources for kids . You could very easily so their whole name with smaller sequins too or in another language.
For my daughter’s first Christmas here is a little baby onesie shape that was created for her. On the front it’s letter K and on the back it’s letter K in Hindi.
I had no idea you had a personal connection with India – how cool! We really do live in a small world =-)
What a clever, clever craft! LOVE it! Thanks for joining us in Christmas Around the World =-)
Beth
How cool are those hindi alphabet ornaments, such a clever idea!! The Christmas Stars are very common in India, which I haven't seen much here in US. I loved the yummy treats my Christian friends used to share and I had learnt many Christmas songs too as a kid. And then have attended the mid night mass at Church a couple of times with colleagues.
Also, did you know that some people esp in rural India decorate banana trees for Christmas(due to lack of pine trees)
Thanks Roopa for sharing your personal experiences in India. I loved seeing all the Christmas stars on the homes when I visited many years ago. I had heard about the banana trees but I need to find a neat picture to show my kids.
Thank you so much for this informative and lovely post! The ornaments are truly original and new to me. I never thought of decorating banana trees! This is such fun information to know.
I love the ornaments- so original and beautiful! And your discussion about Christmas in India is interesting. A good friend from India celebrates Christmas with her family although she in Hindu because she went to a Christian-run school as a kid.
Wonderful Post Kim! I like the idea of personalized Hindi ornaments! I'm a christian Indian and we used to celebrate Christmas with a influence from the Indian traditions. We distribute sweets and cakes. Midnight Mass is the best of Christmas. When I was a Kid, most of us have only Crib nativity scene set @home and very rarely keep Christmas trees. Though now days everyone is keeping Christmas trees.
We place Christmas stars outside the house and the star appears only on the Christmas eve and the star stays there until the wise man visit baby Jesus!
This is a really neat site! I found it while doing some SEO work and sent this link to my wife who works with our local elementary school. They used it to find ideas for school craft projects. She loves the site and information – Thanks!!!
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