Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Celebrate Easter in India

As schools break up this year for the Easter hols in April, you may want to take your family to a far away exotic destination, which does not burn a hole in your pocket. If this is the story with you, I would suggest that you look East this Easter. Sounds familiar? Yes, I am talking about that easily affordable exotic destination called India.

Years of colonial rule has left its mark on the country. The nation’s secular character combined with its Christian population has ensured that festivals like Easter are celebrated with pomp and show. This is especially true for Christian dominated areas like the premiere beach destination of Goa, the glittering city of Mumbai, alluring Kerala and other Southern regions, and the beautiful seven sisters (an epithet for the virginal North Eastern states of states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura). In fact, Christmas and Good Friday are national holidays in the country. So, you can rest assured that during your Easter hols in India, you won’t miss the English celebrations back home.

By booking your flights to India during Easter, you can look forward to a delightful hotch potch of celebrations, as practices and conventions of Indian Christians differ from region to region. Perhaps, Goa is India’s best Easter holiday spot. This entertaining city with its long erstwhile Portuguese lineage turns into riot of fun during Easter. Fun and frolic spills out on the streets, where singing, dancing, and street plays further add to the charm of this magnificent destination. Colourful carnivals become the order of the day and a host of Easter games keep everyone in the best of spirits.

A celebratory fervour engulfs the Christian community from Lent and finally reaches its peak on Easter Sunday. There is no end of hearty lunch, dinner, and Easter parties. People flock to the churches in hordes, where colourful rituals and holy prayers reach a booming crescendo. Usually, parents do not decorate Easter eggs for their children, but buy the same from gift shops. Easter bunnies also sell out in dozens. There is an overwhelming spirit of sharing as smiling happy people exchange gifts after the church service. Besides the holy cross, colourful lanterns also count among the favourite Easter gifts in India. Almost every Christian household bakes mouth watering Easter cakes or at least buys one.

This is also the time when you can look forward to the best deals in shopping and accommodation. Many of the hotels adorn a colourful look with Easter theme parties, while the airlines do their bit by operating cheap flights to India. So, wish you a memorable Easter in India.

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