About Easter |
| Event | Easter |
| Location | All over India |
| Category | Festival |
| Date | Mar 31, 2024 |
| Main Attraction | This famous festival of India is celebrated on a particular Sunday. |
| Overview/History | Popularly called Easter Sunday, this festival is mainly a dedicated festival of the religion of Christianity. Like in other parts of India, this festival is considered to be a day of significant respect among the Catholics of Goa. In the lives of the Catholics residing in that state, this day is important for culminating an observance called Lent. This Lent is generally observed during the months of February and March. Starting from the Ash Wednesday, it stretches for 40 days and ends on Good Friday. Easter Sunday follows this Good Friday. This is one of the major annual festivals in India. Initially known as 'God's Friday', the present name of 'Good Friday' is said to have emerged during the 10th century or the 11th Century. The popular belief that Jesus Christ rose from the grave on the Sunday that followed the crucifixion day. This Sunday is popularly celebrated as Easter Sunday. |
| Celebration | Easter celebrations in India
The festival of Easter was introduced in India through the European countries that founded colonies in this region: Great Britain, Portugal, and France. On this day, the Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ after he was crucified. Typical festivities involve visiting churches and asking forgiveness for their sins, decorating Easter eggs and sharing them with friends and family, and a family dinner. The shops can be seen offering Easter eggs, Easter bunnies, cakes, and other goodies. Easter is not a major festival in India, and is celebrated more in Goa and the Northeast. However, Goa's festivities are so spectacular that they deserve a mention of their own. Easter in GoaThis festival is celebrated in Goa with great pomp and enjoyment. The specified rituals start from the Thursday, which precedes Good Friday. All the churches in Goa are decorated and are flocked by innumerable devotees. On that Thursday night, a feast is held to symbolize Lord Christ's last supper. With the end of that feast, the fasting for Easter starts. The most famous church among them is the Church of Mary Immaculate Conception, which is located in Panjim. Hundreds of Catholic devotees from Goa gather there to listen to the mass. Apart from that a special afternoon session is held in most of the churches, where the sufferings undertaken by Jesus Christ for humanity's sake are being narrated by the priests of the churches. The mass is mostly held in the language of Konkani that is the state language of Goa. One of the other major activities of this festival is participating in the 'Way of the Cross'. This ceremony is the enactment of Jesus Christ's march through the paths on Mount Calvary while on His way to the place for His crucifixion. A large crowd is drawn by this ceremony in the city of Panjim, where a huge wooden cross along with Jesus's image is carried out from the city's church to the different streets of the place. This procession is even accompanied by a band, which plays music. On their way back to the Church through the different streets of the city, the procession is viewed by numerous people belonging to the varied religious communities. Though such a procession is organized by every church, still the one organized by the church in Panjim is worth viewing and attracts the majority of people. |
