Even as pomp and gaiety marked Christmas celebrations, “Jingle Bells” have added to the spirit of the holy festival for over a week now across the coast. And this Christmas cheer is destined to continue for another week until the setting in of the New Year.
While night masses on Wednesday heralded the arrival of the festival, shops and houses across the city were decked up with star-shaped lamp shades and other materials even as churches and other Christian institutions glittered with illumination.
Christmas carols could be heard in every neighbourhood in the evenings. Troupes of boys and girls dressed in red and white, accompanied by none other than Santa Claus, went around the town spreading the message of the birth of Jesus.
Carol troupes‘Jingle Bells’; ‘O Holy Night’ and ‘Silent night’ were some of the popular carols sung by the youngsters. The touring troupes, which set out with the onset of dusk, moved from one house to another till about 10 p.m. ushering in the joy of Christmas among the faithful.
Most Christian households encouraged these troupes by giving donations even as Santa Claus pampered children with gifts. The collections were pooled in the respective churches and were distributed to the poor, said Ronald Fernandes, a writer. However, there was no compulsion that one has to make donations to the carol troupe, he added.
On Thursday, teams mounted on three open trucks toured the city from Kulshekar singing carols as part of a programme organised by the United Christian Association. Every church had at least one troupe and some more than one, in the jurisdiction of Roman Catholic Diocese of Mangalore which has 114 churches, said Fr. William Menezes, public relations officer of the diocese. The troupes predominantly consisted of college students and young professionals. The carol singing would continue till the end of the year, Fr. Menezes added.
Historical practiceCarol singing reportedly dates back to the 13th century (AD 1223) when St. Francis of Assisi in Italy, known as the Saint of the poor, started the practice, he said. Thereafter the practice underwent many changes, including the lyrics, the language (from Latin to English) and such.
City-based mathematician and researcher Michael Lobo had in 2012 brought out ‘A Thousand pages of Songs’ and ‘Popular Music: A Historical and Thematic Analysis’, which takes readers through the history of carols dating back to medieval times.
