Grandeur marks Christmas celebrations in Tirupati

Tirupati/Nellore/: It was a real festive time for people to celebrate Christmas with religious fervour on Sunday after a gap of two years due to the Covid pandemic. Churches and cathedrals have witnessed large gatherings as people offered prayers and exchanged pleasantries. The festive spirit was seen at every place of worship which were well decorated for the festival. Colourful illumination, children donned the role of Santa Clause and Christmas trees have become the added attractions to the festive ambience.

Christians celebrate the festival on December 25 every year commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ whom they consider to be the Son of God. On this occasion religious discourses were held at all the churches in the morning. Earlier, thousands took part in the midnight prayers on Saturday. Several Christians have invited their friends to their homes to celebrate the festival in a grand manner. They decked up their homes with X-Mas trees and stars. Sweet shops and bakeries were flooded with people and anticipating the huge demand, the shopkeepers have made available several new varieties to woo customers. Reputed churches like the Jaganmatha church, West church, St Lutheran church among others have drawn huge crowds throughout the day.

In the Shekinah church in Tirupati, senior pastor Arul Arasu conducted the prayers and addressed the people. Joyal and Christopher offered special X-Mas songs while dance performances by children received applause.

Minister for Tourism and Culture RK Roja took part in the prayers at St Lutheran church in Puttur and distributed clothes to the poor. She also released the church calendar while the church father has blessed her. Later, she also attended the prayers at Pannuru CSI church in Vijayapuram mandal where she cut the cake and distributed three-wheel cycles to physically challenged people and sarees to the poor. Srikalahasti MLA Biyyapu Madhusudan Reddy offered prayers at St Xavier's church in Srikalahasti and greeted all the Christians.

In Nellore, hundreds of Christians congregated in various churches and offered prayers and hymns to God on Sunday as part of Christmas festival. They started celebrating the festival by participating in the midnight mass on Saturday. Roman Catholic Mission church at Santhapet, Baptist church at VRC Centre, and others were decked up with lights and stars. Many churches in the city wore a glittering look with illumination, stars and decorative material. People were greeting each other Happy Christmas and Merry Christmas singing hymns to Him on the streets of many residential areas. Leaders of various political parties visited churches and also offered prayers. Agriculture Minister Kakani Govardhan Reddy visited a church at Palicherlapadu in Venkatachalam and city legislator Dr P Anil Kumar Yadav also participated in prayers at RCM church in Santhapet along with deputy mayor Khaleel Ahmed and corporators. MP A Prabhakar Reddy, MLA K Sridhar Reddy, Mayor P Sravanthi, deputy mayor P Roopkumar Yadav, Vijaya Dairy chairman K Rangareddy, and local leaders attended the prayers at a church in 32nd division. They distributed blankets and offered food to the poor after the programme. Jana Sena leaders Ch Manukranth Reddy, K Vinod Kumar Reddy and Gunugula Kishore participated in prayers in the city on Sunday.