CUTTACK: Fun and fervour marked Christmas celebration in the Millennium City which wore a bridal look with churches, schools, commercial establishments and houses decorated with colourful lights and stars. Cuttack city is home to over 15,000 Christians of which nearly 3,000 are Catholics. Christmas was celebrated with pomp and enthusiasm at Sutahat, Peyton Sahi, Makarba Sahi, Jachuk lane, Stewart Patna and Christian Sahi of Chandi Chowk and Tulsipur locality where a majority of the Christians reside. Not only Christians but people from other religions too also joined the festivities.
Candles, stars, decorative lights, traditional Christmas trees, varieties of Santa Claus caps and baked delicacies were part of the celebrations. The main celebration was held at Roman Catholic Church (Holy Rosary Cathedral) adjacent to St Joseph’s School and Oriya Baptist Church near Stewart School from midnight on Monday. Service prayers were also offered at half-a-dozen other churches including the Church of God, Church of North India and Church of Epiphany which were decked up to commemorate the birth of Lord Jesus.Recital of Bible and carols reverberated across the Christian-dominated localities of the city.