Anti-CAA carols mark Christmas in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: The Christmas celebrations in Kerala at some places witnessed some colours of the anti-Citizenship Act protest, but none could take away the merry cheers on Wednesday that the day brings.

Keralas has been one of the states at the forefront of the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests. This theme was used by a musical troupe in the St Thomas Marthoma Church in Kozhencherry.

The group sang Carols in Muslim style and costumes, expressing solidarity with the Muslim community, who have been protesting against the CAA and the National Citizen Register (NRC).

Early Wednesday morning, Churches across the state were crowded as young and old waited patiently for the Christmas wine and cake.

The devout Christians across the various sections in the Christian community, while observing a holy lent by giving up all non-vegetarian dishes for 25 days, ended the lent when the wine was poured into their mouth by the priests conducting the mass.

The wine was followed by a piece of cake, after which a sumptuous breakfast is relished.

The traditional Syrian Christian breakfast includes, appom, stew (chicken or mutton) fish molly, duck, beef, egg roast and steamed banana.

One change from the yesteryears is with the fresh toddy, which when added to the rice dough, gives the appom a unique taste. However, toddy has become a scarce commodity and, today most homes use the yeast today.

In some homes, the lunch is the major meal and unlike the traditional "Onam Sadya" which is always eaten from a plantain leaf, the Christmas lunch is eaten from the plate.

The menu includes varieties of fish and meat and of late, in some homes it is the mouth watering "biriyani" or fried rice.

With Christmas now turning more a less a secular event, it's the bakeries which make the biggest killing as presenting a Christmas cake among friends and relatives, has become the order of the day.

And cakes, especially the ones coated with icing sugar costs anything from Rs 600 upwards and the most exquisite ones cost as high as Rs 2,500 per kg.

Christians in Kerala number around 62 lakh of the 3.34 crores population.