Christmas in Pakistan

Christmas in Pakistan is in memory of Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Christians constitute an extremely small section of the population. But as Pakistan features a population more than 162 million people, you will find more than 5 millions Christians. It's a public holiday in Pakistan on the 25th December.

The standard traditional Christmas greeting in Punjabi is '’Bara Din Mubarrak Ho'’, which means, '’the blessing of Christmas on you'’.

At Christmas and other Christian festivals such as Easter a big parade will take place which travels from St. Anthony's Church to the Cathedral. It takes a few hours to arrive at the cathedral for the services. During the lead up to Christmas there are lots of spiritual meetings and seminars that take place to prepare people for ‘the big day’.

Like in England, during the last week of advent, groups of carol singers will sing to houses around the towns and village. In return of the entertainment the residents will give the groups tokens of money. This money will be given to the churches charity.

In areas that have a lot of Christian residents, they have a star on the roofs of their houses. The streets and houses are also decorated and lit up with Christmas lights. Unlike any other countries Pakistan has a ‘crib’ competition.

A vigil mass takes place on Christmas Eve, this draws in a large amount of people. During the mass there are choirs that sing important hymns. Afterwards, there are lots of fireworks, music and dancing. People also take this opportunity to exchange any gifts and celebrate Bara Din.

Finally Christmas day, Pakistani’s attend a church service again, but dressed in their best clothing. Even the poorest people have new clothes and will attend the service. Afterwards they will all stay in the courtyard and enjoy, eat and drink. Most adults will visit their parents.

Christmas in Pakistan is celebrated with the special Christmas cakes and meals. Chicken or beef curry, rice and maybe a sweet dish is the staple menu during Christmas.