The Christian community across Pakistan, like other parts of the world, celebrated the grand festival of Christmas on Sunday with traditional zeal and enthusiasm.
The festival was marked by the Christian community through different activities, including official gatherings, cake-cutting ceremonies, illuminating houses and observing prayers in churches.
Special cake-cutting ceremonies were arranged at different ministries and departments on Friday, which was the last working day, to share the happiness of the festival with the Christian staff members and acknowledge their contributions.
Special services were held in churches across the country and prayers were offered for peace, progress and prosperity of Pakistan as well as for the safety of all humanity from natural disasters and diseases.
The main attractions of the Christmas festival included the traditions like decorating Christmas trees, the arrival of Santa Clause, offering prayers in churches, singing carols and distributing Christmas gifts which added charm to the festivity.
The main ritual of the Christmas celebration is the decoration of the Christmas tree to welcome the arrival of Santa Claus also known as Father Christmas.
The Christmas tree is usually decked with different ornaments including baubles, small bells painted in gold or silver, stars of different shapes and sizes, pine cones, apples, candies, tinsel and balloons made from glass, metal, wood and ceramic.
An angel and a star is often placed at the top of the tree representing the host of angels.
To mark the Christmas festival, the National Institute of Folk and Traditional Heritage (Lok Virsa) arranged special programmes on Friday at the Pakistan National Heritage Museum to mark Christmas in collaboration with UP Church and Saint Thomas Church in Islamabad.
The activities included a cake-cutting ceremony, the congregation of the Christian community, the erection of the Christmas tree, the exhibition of artisans-at-work, the distribution of sweets among children by Santa Claus, Christmas songs, folk songs and dances.
Islamabad Traffic Police (Traffic Wing) on Friday arranged a ceremony in connection with Christmas and distributed gifts among the employees.
A magnificent event was arranged at Allama Iqbal Open University to show solidarity with the university's Christian employees which was presided over by the Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Nasir Mahmood.
It has been observed that a number of shopping malls, offices and hotels in the capital have placed decked Christmas trees to attract visitors, especially children while the Christian community has also set up different bazaars at their nearest places offering a variety of stuff related to the festival.
The Islamabad police ensured comprehensive security arrangements on the eve of Christmas and special deployment at Churches and public places.
According to the police, more than 1,500 policemen were deployed around churches in Islamabad and foolproof security arrangements were planned for Christmas and special checking outside the churches.
It has been observed that a number of stalls were set up outside the Katchi Abadis where majority of the Christian community reside. The stalls' owners displayed a variety of decorative ornaments as well as the dress of Santa Claus which was a source of attraction for the youngsters and children.
Different brands and eateries in the federal capital offered good discounts on the occasion of Christmas to attract more customers.
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