Christians in twin cities celebrate Christmas

Special prayers held at Churches for peace and prosperity of the country

ISLAMABAD: Christmas was celebrated with zeal and fervour in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad amid a festive atmosphere.

After the midnight mass, the day dawned with special prayers for the peace and prosperity of the country. The Christian community observed their sacred rituals of the day at their respective Churches and then scores of them headed to picnic spots and eateries to the enjoy the day with friends and family.

Churches were decorated colourfully with Christmas trees, gifts, special ornamental items, wall hangings and illuminated with colourful lights. Christian community of twin cities also adorned their homes and streets with wreaths, garlands, ornaments, lights and stockings.

Streets, houses and shops in several Christian communities, churches, missionary schools and institutions in twin cities have also been illuminated with colourful lights.

The Christmas celebrations were in full swing in residential colonies in various sectors of federal capital while people of Rawalpindi also expressed their joys through holding sermons in churches, exchanging sweets and visiting friends and relatives.

“We have decorated our houses with colourful lights, flags, balloons and with the most special  Christmas trees, distributed gifts among children and prepared special food items on the occasion for friends and family,” a resident of Christian Colony, Shaukat Masih said.

Huge crowd was witnessed at the sweets shops and food outlets across the country for special Christmas decorated cakes, baskets of delicious cookies and hand-crafted chocolates besides other cuisines.

For the festival, bakers and sweet shops introduced the best styles and innovative ideas for the decorative Christmas cakes to attract the customers.

To continue the festivities a large number of residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad visited recreational places to enjoy the long weekend with their families and friends.

Christian families, decked in colourful dresses, headed to parks and picnic spots. Being a long weekend and winter vacations, children were also seen in large numbers enjoying the season’s cheer.

Restaurants and other food outlets were also overcrowded with people enjoying a day out on the festive occasion.

All main parks including Lake View Park, Daman-i-Koh, Pir Sohawa, Fatima Jinnah Park, Rose and Jasmine Garden in Islamabad, Jinnah Park, Ayub Park and Nawaz Sharif Park in Rawalpindi remained jammed packed from Friday to Monday.

Scores of people were also seen traveling to Murree and other nearby hill areas to enjoy long the needed weekend.

Children also visited Islamabad zoo and the adjacent children park (Japanese Park) which was main attraction for families with small kids.

Parks of twin cities were decorated to attract visitors. Many families were seen enjoying barbeque and home-cooked foods they had brought with themselves.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 26^th, 2017.