Christmas in Sri Lanka is not as white as that in any European or North American nation. However, it is certainly whitened by the purity and warmth of the people who celebrate the festival with kind, loving, benevolent and brotherly hearts. Christmas in Sri Lanka is celebrated with much pomp and fanfare. The Christians of the nation don’t wait for the arrival of the 25th of December to start the fun and fiesta. Instead, they announce the advent of Christmas in Sri Lanka as soon as December begins. In fact, there is so much of rejoicing during Christmas in Sri Lanka that no one can feel that Christians are a minority in the nation. This is because the non-Christian communities also participate in the merrymaking and partying during Christmas in Sri Lanka.
One of the major festivals in Sri Lanka before the New Year in Sri Lanka, Christmas in Sri Lanka has an interesting history. As Sri Lanka was under different European regimes, from the sixteenth century to the twentieth century, its culture has been greatly influenced by the cultures of its European colonizers. These settlers used to celebrate Christmas in Sri Lanka with great gusto and hence the custom of celebrating the festival to the present day in a similar manner has continued.
By the time it is the 24th of December in Sri Lanka, the island becomes quite unrecognizable as the tropical island of the east. The hotels, shopping malls, departmental stores, eateries, discothèques, and bars are all decorated with streamers, Christmas trees and statues of Santa Clause. You can hear the sound of carols wherever you go. The spirit of Yuletide also enters the residences of the Hindus and the Buddhists of Sri Lanka who treat the festival as their own. Parents in Christian and non-Christian families encourage their kids to adorn miniature Christmas trees with stars, bells, bobbles, and angels. Christmas cards are doled out to family members and intimate friends by post, courier, the system of hand delivery, as well as by the Internet.
Christians, Hindus and Buddhists alike feast on large Christmas cakes and puddings, turkey, ham, chicken and mutton preparations. Hearty meals are accompanied with glasses of pina coladas and heady cocktails.
A festival that engages the hearts of one and all, Christmas in Sri Lanka is thoroughly enjoyed even by the tourists in the nation in the course of their Sri Lanka tours.
travel.mapsofworld.com provides extensive online information on Christmas in Sri Lanka.
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