As the temperature dropped lower, the night of Christmas spread warmth across the city with families and friends gathered in churches and public spaces enjoying traditional carols and listening to midnight mass. Several church gatherings across the city witnessed a spike in footfall this year. As the clock struck midnight, the night sky was painted with bursts of colour as fireworks lit up in different pockets of the city.
The Telugu Lalitha Kala Thoranam at Nampally, which hosted Hope Unlimited Church (UC), played close to 12 Christmas carols in an electrifying hour-and-a-half performance.
Allen Ganta, the executive worship pastor of Hope Unlimited Church, the celebrations this year were bigger and grander with a vision of retelling the story of Jesus with using the light as a metaphor. “From the beginning of the Bible, God has been talking to people with the metaphor for light. We wanted to narrate his story through the same metaphor this year,” he said.
The churches in Abids were lit up with fairy lights as were the churches in Secunderabad and Bollarum.
Local businesses and organisations played a significant role in spreading festive cheer by organising events, distributing sweets, and decorating public spaces. Days ahead of the festival, famous plum cake shops in the city started receiving bulk orders.
The CSI St. Mark’s church in Mettuguda also had an attendance of more than usual. Additional chairs were put up for the sermons for the crowd. Lot of Christmas gifts and plum cakes were distributed to the attendees. The St. Mary’s church in SD Road was among the several churches in the city that held services during the day for public attending the mass.
