res.. do not post anything

Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle alltheway
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh

It's Christmas Time!!!

It is once again 25th December. It is once again the same time of the year when happiness is the only thing you feel around yourself. It is once again CHRISTMAS!!

December has arrived and with it comes all the joys of Christmas. Be it presents, Christmas carols, stocking hanging from the trees, snow in the yard, dinner with friends and family, Christmas tress, decorations, food, drinks and everything you put your eye on.

Christmas is celebrated to honor the birth of the great Jesus Christ. It is one of the most celebrated holidays in the world, celebrated by billions of people all around the world.

It is a season of great joy and immense pleasure. This is a festival in which god bestows us with his love. He showers his blessings and keeps us happy.

It is celebrated as a religious holiday as well as cultural phenomena. It brings excitement in the kids, joy on the faces of the adults and as for the old, a leisure time to sit back and relax. It is a time for family and friends to get together enjoy and have a blast!

In India, Christmas is not celebrated at a large scale, but people do enjoy this festival to the fullest. One of the major reasons for this is the number of people who are Christians compared to the people of other religions. But this doesn't keep the Christians from enjoying! One of the largest Indian Christian Communities is in Mumbai.

Midnight Mass is one of the important rituals of Christmas in India. The rituals follows the family members walking around and exchanging pleasantries and presents. Churches all over the country are decorated beautifully. Even the houses are lit up and Christmas trees are decorated. Different parts of the country celebrates this festival in their own different ways.

Christians often put small oil burning clay lamps on the flat roofs of their homes to show their neighbors that Jesus is the light of the world. People make different kinds of decorative materials such as beautiful stars and hang them across the streets. They keep sweets and gifts ready.

In India, Santa Claus delivers the presents and gifts to the kids. Kids keep their socks ready the night before and in the morning their socks are filled with sweets and chocolates. They also get a handful of presents which brings a smile on their faces.

In other parts of the world, houses are decorated with different colored flowers. In most of the places, there is firework at the midnight. Preparations for Christmas start very early. Houses are decorated, Streets are made beautiful, and everyone is in a festive mood.

In countries, where there are not a large number of Christians/Catholics, the festival is more of a time of happiness rather than a religious festival. Christmas eve is often thought as a romantic eve, wherein couples spend some time together. Kissing under the Mistletoe is a famous tradition in many countries.

Parties are often held for children, with games and dancing. Towns and cities often decorate the streets with lights to celebrate Christmas.

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Christmas Carols were first sung in Europe. The word carol originally means to dance or a song of praise or joy. They are basically sung to express joy and delight. People put some songs and enjoy their Christmas Evenings with friends and family.

There are many stories behind the Christmas Carols such as I Saw Three Ships, Good King Wenceslas, Silent Night, The 12 Days Of Christmas etc. In the very beginning, these were not carols, they were simple songs sung by the people but slowly and gradually they transformed into the specific Christmas Carols.

They were usually sung in homes rather than in churches! Traveling singers or Minstrels started singing these carols and the words were changed for the local people wherever they were traveling. When Oliver Cromwell came to power in England, the celebration of Christmas and singing carols was stopped.

However, the carols survived as people still sang them in secret. Many orchestras and choirs were being set up in the cities of England and people wanted Christmas songs to sing, so carols once again became popular.

New carols services were created and became popular, as did the custom of singing carols in the streets. Both of these customs are still popular today!

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