Decorated Christmas Tree Brings Festive Sparkle To Capital City

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 18th Dec, 2022 ) :With only a few days left in the grand festival of Christmas, the Christian community in the Federal capital like other parts of the country has started decorating Christmas trees for their homes, offices and street corners with the help of embellishments, following the old tradition.

The offices, shops, malls and hotels in the federal capital have also placed the ornamented Christmas tree to share the happiness of the festival with the members of the Christian community and attract visitors.

The Christmas tree is the main symbol of the Christmas celebrations to welcome the arrival of Santa Claus which allure people especially children with its decorative look.

The members of the Christian community decorate the evergreen coniferous tree, either real or artificial, as a tradition associated with the celebration of Christmas.

The tree is usually decked with different ornaments including baubles, small bells painted gold or silver, stars of different shapes and sizes, pine cones, apples, candies, tinsel and balloons made from glass, metal, wood and ceramic. An angel and star are often placed at the top of the tree representing the host of angels.

"The biggest excitement of the festival is to decorate Christmas tree with beautiful ornaments. I have decorated my tree and I am excited to share its pictures with my friends on social media", Rizwana Masih, a young girl said.

Talking to APP, she said, "Decorating Christmas tree is the main hallmark of this festival and our celebrations remain incomplete without this tree".

Younas Gill, a young boy said, "We are celebrating this Christmas through arranging parties and gatherings still but decorating Christmas tree is our first priority".

"We have decorated an artificial Christmas tree at our home to enjoy the upcoming festival", he said.

The festival of Christmas also brings good business to the flowers and sweet sellers, gift shops as well as retailers of ornaments.

Hammad Nawaz, a decorative items seller at Karachi Company said people mostly used colourful candles and electric lights (fairy lights) to decorate their small-sized trees as these were easily available here while many people also used to decorate outdoor trees with lights and some other ornaments.

He said, although the pandemic has affected our business during the past years but this year, we are expecting a good number of customers.

In various cultures, the Christmas tree is traditionally brought into the home and decorated with Christmas lights (originally candles), ornaments, garlands, tinsel, and candy canes during the days around Christmas.

The earliest accounts of decorating an evergreen tree at Christmas were recorded in Livonia (roughly modern territory of Estonia and Latvia) in 15th century.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Christian community is finalizing its preparations for celebrating the Christmas festival with more enthusiasm and renewed spirit, feeling the echo of church bells that announce the birth of Jesus.

The festival will be marked through different activities ranging from official gatherings to cake-cutting ceremonies in small communities.

The joyous occasion will fill the atmosphere with colours, symbols and traditions of Christmas that mainly include Christmas Tree, Santa Clause, Carols and Christmas gifts.

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