Catamaran races, dancing kings and rose cookies — the unique Christmas traditions of South India’s towns are a colourful blend of local culture and community
Beyond the clink of wine glasses, aroma of fruit cake, and the bauble-heavy trees sitting pretty in living room corners, Christmas in most Indian cities has a distinctive regional character from shared community meals to carols steeped in folklore. These smaller celebrations, which are far from the urban experience, capture the spirit of the season.
A slice of Armenia in India
George Town, Chennai
It is early January. You are procrastinating taking down the Christmas lights while side-eyeing gym membership discounts. But for Chennai’s small community of Armenians, the party is just getting started — the Armenians celebrate Christmas on January 6.
Ashkhen Khachatryan, a member of one of Chennai’s only five surviving Armenian families, explains that the community believes that this is the original date. “Around the end of the 3rd Century, the date was shifted to December 25, which is when the festival of worshipping the sun was celebrated, but we continued celebrating it on January 6,” she adds.
The five families gather at the Armenian Church in George Town every year on Christmas Day. Greetings of “Shnorhavor Amanor ev Surb Tsnund’’ (Happy New Year and Merry Christmas) are exchanged. The bells are rung — the six ropes hanging in the belfry (one for each) are pulled and the service begins. “The sermon in Armenia is held at 10 am, and we listen to it online,” says Ashkhen.
“In Armenia, we would light a candle during the evening service on January 5, bring it home and let it burn throughout Christmas day.” However, since the community is so small here, there are no pastors available to perform the service in Chennai. Instead, pastors from Kolkata — home to India’s largest Armenian community — come down to Chennai in November to hold the annual service.
After that, we all go to someone’s house for lunch,” says Ashkhen, who, as a host, loves preparing the tanapur soup with a base of yogurt, peppered with cilantro; the gata, a fluffy pastry filled with a mixture of chopped walnuts; the rice pilaf with dry fruits; and red wine. “We do not eat meat on Christmas,” she says.
The right taste can transport you back to your motherland, but still there are many Armenian traditions lost in this city that will likely never see a snowy Christmas — “As kids we are told that Dzmer Papik (Winter grandpa, as Santa Claus is called) comes to visit children on December 31, with his granddaughter, Dzyunanushik (snow sweetie),” she says. This tradition is re-lived at the Russian Culture Centre, Chennai, which holds a programme for children of the Russian community in the last week of December. She adds, “I want my child to also grow up believing this fairytale.”
– Sweta Akundi
Life is a box of kuswar
Mangaluru, Karnataka
Rose cookies made for kuswar during Christmas in Mangaluru
In Mangaluru, Christmas preparations start by the first week of December when families gear up to get the kuswar ready. Kuswar which means ‘sweet’ are traditional Christmas goodies made at home and distributed among friends and family. According to custom, around 20 different snacks such as rose cookies, chakklis and diamond cuts are part of kuswar; most are sweet with just a few savoury ones to offset the sugar rush.
“The tradition brings the whole family together. People reach their hometowns early to help with the preparations. Most families make around 6-10 different kinds and choosing which ones is part of the fun,” says Jean Lobo, an IT professional. The whole family is recruited for kneading, mixing, pounding, frying and of course, tasting the goodies as they come off the stove. Rice flour, maida and besan play a part in the creation.
Rice laddoos made by pounding red rice, jaggery, cardamom, sesame and nuts are another Christmas speciality in Mangaluru
Some typical Mangalorean Christmas snacks are neurio which are half-moon shaped puffs stuffed with grated coconut, sesame seeds, nuts and semolina; crunchy and curly kidiyo or kulkuls, and jaws snappers called gulio made of rice flour, jaggery and coconut milk.
Nankhatai or desi butter cookies are a part of kuswar for Mangaloreans settled in Mumbai, says Maria D’Souza. “Flour, semolina, butter and a pinch of nutmeg and cardamom are used to make the dough which is then topped with almond flakes before being popped into the oven,” she says.
Brand new combs are bought to prepare kidiyo — dough is rolled along the teeth for even lines. “The result is a cute caterpillar shape. Kidi in Konkani means worm,” says Jean. “Rice laddoos are another Christmas speciality in Mangalore, and are made by pounding red rice, jaggery, cardamom, sesame and nuts,” says Gracy Miranda, an HR manager, adding,“December 24 is when we distribute it to friends and family and enjoy it at home too, since the next day the meal is a non-vegetarian one.” Sanas and buffat pork, and chicken curry made with ground red chillies are also a must on Christmas Day.
– Ruth Dhanaraj
Straw, sheep, and a baby boy
Puliakulam, Coimbatore
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 21/12/2021: Every household at St Antony’s Street in Puliakulam, Coimbatore, displays the nativity scene on Christmas eve. The tradition is observed with fanfare by young boys in the locality. Here they are seen building a crib set at a street corner | Photo Credit: PERIASAMY M
The Christmas mass aside, there is one other thing that will keep the residents of St Antony’s Street in Puliakulam, Coimbatore, up until midnight. They will carry a baby Jesus statue, made of clay or porcelain, to the crib displayed at home and place it at the centre. “This happens at the stroke of midnight on December 24,” says Rosalyn Mary, a resident.
St Antony’s Street, with lanes interlocked like braids, is made of close-knit houses right behind St Antony’s Church. Every year on Christmas, these lanes come alive with the nativity scene, lit up and displayed on tables in front of houses, by windows, at street corners… a massive set, complete with Santa, reindeer, and snow, is set up at the centre where the street branches out from behind the church.
“Most of us have a kudil purchased at places of pilgrimage, such as Velankanni,” says Rosalyn, “We prepare the home and the mind to welcome baby Jesus. We wrap up the display after the ‘Three Kings Day’ in January, by cooking sweet pongal.”
J Johnson has been displaying the set at home for 30 years now. “My brother did it, and now, I follow suit,” says the 40-year-old. His children will take after him. But the cribs have changed with time. “When I was younger, we used a lot of straw and stones,” he recalls. “Now though, kids use flex-boards and machine-cut frames.”
Boys at St Antony’s Street pool in to buy ornate sets made of wood and polystyrene. College students M Sunsuman, M Selvast and gang are working on the outer portion of a crib at a street corner. “We get together to create something beautiful, that everyone can stop by to admire,” says Sunsuman.
– Akila Kannadasan
The Kings meet tonight
Moonu Raja Koothu, Athicode
For the people of Athicode, 20 kilometres from Palakkad, Christmas is synonymous with a historical chavittunadakam performance (a Latin Christian classical art form). Held on the first Sunday after Christmas every year since 1850, the event is a vibrant fusion of faith, art and ritual.
Moonu Raja Koothu (The play of the Three Wise Kings) is an adaptation of the biblical story of the three kings who come bearing gifts for the infant Christ. R Anthonysamy, who has been performing as Melchior, one of the kings, since 1982, says the play is not performed anywhere other than Athicode, by a group of families that have been doing so ever since it was started by Fr. Arulanandar at the St Antony’s Church and written by chavittunadakam artiste Arockiasamy in 1850. The play has undergone only a few stylistic changes in all these years, depending on the ashan (teacher) who helps the team put up the show.
Anthonysamy will be on a fast until the performance, which is expected to be held on January 9. “Embodying a divine character is a form of prayer,” he says, over the phone from Athicode.
The 65-year-old claims there has never been a break in this tradition. Despite COVID-19 it was staged, but indoors and without an audience. “It is a celebration for the entire village. Though it takes place on the church grounds, people from other communities come to watch.” It typically starts late in the evening and goes on till the wee hours. “In the earlier days, people from 33 villages around Athicode would come,” Anthony says in Tamil-laced Malayalam.
When it was first staged, three men from three families were chosen to play the Kings. The roles are still played by people in the same family. “The mantle was passed on to me by my Valiappan (grandfather),” he says. The kings, dressed in elaborate costumes, and ornaments, their faces caked with paint, start their journeys from the erstwhile villages of Pappampalli, Nadupalayam and Vangarpalayam in a procession to meet in Athicode.
– Anasuya Menon
March of the Santa Clauses
Buon Natale, Thrissur
In 2013, two days after Christmas, Thrissur witnessed a spectacle of thousands of people dressed as Santa Claus marching along the main road. The procession also had sprightly carol singers, tableaux of the nativity scenes, children dressed as angels, folk art forms and brass bands. “It was a real carnival, with caparisoned elephants, colourful parasols and heaving crowds,” says Joy KD, a resident of Thrissur, who went to see the Buon Natale that year.
Since 2013, the Thrissur Archdiocese along with the Thrissur Pauravali (a citizen’s group) has been organising the colourful procession, which starts from St Thomas College Grounds and culminates at the Sakthan Thampuran Ground and lasts two to three hours. The highlight is the people dancing in red velveteen costumes with faux white fur and Santa masks. Since the 2018 flood, followed by the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the Buon Natale has not been held, but charity work has been continuing.
Buon Natale has become a part of Thrissur’s own Christmas experience. Much like the pooram and the pulikkali, it reflects the town’s identity. “We hope it will be held this year, adhering to protocol,” says Joy.
– Anasuya Menon
It’s a beachside party
Puthenthope, Thiruvananthapuram
Christmas comes early to Puthenthope, a picturesque fishing hamlet, 17 kilometres from Thiruvananthapuram. After an early morning mass at 6 am, the sleepy beachside village comes alive with games, football matches, theatre and cultural activities.
Adding lustre to the celebrations this year is the platinum jubilee of Jaihind Vayanashala (Jaihind Library), perhaps the first such library in a coastal village.
Twenty four-year-old Alvin Joseph John impatiently waits for a rally that is taken out on December 24. In cars and two-wheelers, young men and women ride around the village. “As in the past, on December 25, we plan to gather on the beach for breakfast and a jalotsavam (water festival). We hold races for fishing boats and catamarans, and a swimming competition,” says Michael Johnson, secretary of the Jaihind Library, established in 1946.
Octogenarian Vijayamma D’Cruz recalls, “Young men from our village used to take us to the deep sea in their boats. However, once it capsized. Although we were all rescued, I have never stepped on a boat again,” she says. Nevertheless, she has never missed the beach festivities.
Several households have relatives settled abroad but many of them come home for the celebrations. “Families from the US, the UK, Canada and Kuwait have already reached Puthenthope. We have not forgotten our roots and many of us take pride in the fact that we can still row a boat or a catamaran,” says Rajesh Joboy, president of the library.
Beach celebrations in Puthenthope, Thiruvananthapuram
– Saraswathy Nagarajan
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