Christmas celebrated with gaiety in State

Christians attired in new clothes thronged the churches for special masses and exchanged greetings. All the churches were tastefully decorated and illuminated to mark the occasion.  X-Mas trees of various hues and sizes dotted various shopping malls across the state. The largest congregation was held at the Santhome Basilica in Chennai city.  Tamil Nadu Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao, Chief Minister O Panneerselvam, leaders of various political parties, including DMK President M Karunanidhi and Prince of Arcot Nawab Mohammed Abdul Ali greeted the Christians on the occasion.     

In Puducherry, church services were held on Saturday night and people exchanged Christmas greetings. Illumination of churches added to the glitter of the celebrations. Chief Minister V Narayanasamy highlighted the religious unity of Puducherry and extended his greetings to the Christian community all over the Union Territory. Lt Governor Kiran Bedi visited churches in Villianoor and Ariyankuppam on Sunday enroute her visits to Kariamanikkam and Eripakkam villages for weekend trips and offered prayers at the shrines. A cultural programme was held in Raj Nivas on Saturday. 

The Lt Governor greeted young children who presented vocal and musical concerts during the occasion. She first visited the church of Our Lady of Lourdes in Villianoor and later another one at Ariyankuppam. In a Tweet, Bedi said she ‘prayed for a prosperous Puducherry and also for an India which can cater for all and an India which would be blessed with positive energy as a nation’. Ruling Congress legislator from Nettapakkam (reserved) segment Vijayaveny and officials of PWD and other departments accompanied her. 

A release from Bedi’s office said she listened to representations of villagers at Eripakkam about obstruction in a feeder canal, that brings water to the major water body in the village, because of encroachments and their plea to desilt it. Finding that the encroachment was due to farming activities on the feeder canal, Bedi ordered officials to remove the encroachments and carry out desilting after the harvest. She ordered that a committee be constituted, headed by legislator of Nettapakkam (reserved) segment as the village and lake are within territorial limits of Nettapakkam segment. 

At Kariamanikkam village, Bedi saw that a pond close to a water pumping station was being used to dump garbage by the municipal authorities.    As the garbage posed a health hazard to the subsoil water table, she ordered Commissioner of Nettapakkam commune panchayat to identify another site, in consultation with the Directorate of Science and Technology so as to get clearance for proper environment maintenance`, the release said. The desilting should also be through ‘shramdaan movement’ making use of local youth and the pond should be revived for availability of hygienic water, she said.

Christmas celebrations in southern districts witnessed colourful celebrations. People exchanged gifts and offered prayers at special mass on Sunday. Christian homes had tastefully decorated cribs symbolising the birth of Christ. Also, special midnight prayers were offered in all the churches in the southern districts and a large number of people congregated. 

At Our Lady of Snows Shrine Basilica, famously called as the ‘ Panimaya Madha Kovil’ , a special midnight prayer session was conducted. Parish Priest Lerin De Rose conducted the prayer session and thousands of people offered prayers. At St Anthony’s Church at Thoothukudi, famously called as the ‘ Chinna Kovil ’, Bishop of Thoothukudi Diocese, Ivan Ambrose, conducted a special prayer session. 

At Nazareth in Thoothukudi district which is called the ‘City of Towers’ due to  large number of churches there, Christmas was celebrated grandiosely. A 70 feet tall Christmas light was setup in the Sandhi Bazaar at Nazareth and people of nearby villages visited Nazareth to see the special effect.