About Christmas
Christmas is the Christian feast of the birth of Jesus, kept on 25 December, which in 2026 falls on Friday, 25 December 2026. India's roughly 28 million Christians, about 2.3 per cent of the country by the 2011 Census, mark it with midnight services and family meals, and the day is a public holiday for everyone.
How is Christmas celebrated in India?
Christmas in India runs on two tracks at once. In Christian homes it is a church day: a midnight service, a family lunch, visits to relatives and to the graves of people who have died. Outside those homes it is a public holiday that almost everyone enjoys, with cake, lights in markets, and office parties that have nothing to do with the church calendar.
Christians are a small share of the country, about 28 million people or 2.3 per cent at the 2011 Census, but they are not spread evenly. Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya have Christian majorities, and there are old, large communities in Kerala, Goa, coastal Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Mumbai and the tribal belts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. In north India the day is often called Bada Din, the big day, and Bengal calls it Boro Din.
The history behind that spread is long. Kerala's Saint Thomas Christians trace their church to the apostle Thomas, said to have landed on the Malabar coast in 52 CE. Goa's Catholic culture came with the Portuguese from the sixteenth century. Most of the Northeast became Christian much later, through Welsh Presbyterian and American Baptist missions in the nineteenth century, which is why Shillong sings Presbyterian hymns and Nagaland is largely Baptist.
Where is Christmas biggest in India?
| Place | What the day looks like | What is eaten |
|---|---|---|
| Goa | Missa de Galo, the midnight mass named after the rooster, then a late family meal. Homes hang paper stars and build cribs, and villages hold crib and star competitions | Kuswar, a tray of about twenty sweets including bebinca, dodol, kulkuls, neureos and perad, plus sorpotel with sannas the next day |
| Kerala | Many Syrian Christian families keep a 25-day fast from 1 December, giving up meat, fish and dairy. Midnight qurbana, then the fast ends at the table | Appam and stew, duck roast, kappa with beef, and plum cake, which came in with British-era baking in the port towns |
| Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland | Church-centred and community-wide. Carol choirs, brass bands, Christmas parades in Aizawl, and village feasts that run into the next day | Community meals of pork or beef with rice, cooked and eaten together after the service |
| Mumbai | Midnight mass at Mount Mary and St Andrew's in Bandra, the East Indian and Goan neighbourhoods lit up, carol singers going house to house | Marzipan, milk cream, kulkuls and rose cookies, made at home in December |
| Kolkata | Park Street lights and the fair at Allen Park, with the city out walking on the night of the 24th | Fruit cake from the old Park Street and New Market bakeries, some of them a century old |
| Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh | Church services in Tamil and Telugu, paper stars over doorways in Christian streets, and Christmas cribs in schools | Rice cakes, murukku, plum cake and biryani at the family lunch |
What happens at Christmas in Indian offices and schools?
Christmas is a holiday for the whole country, not only for Christians. Banks, government offices and schools close on 25 December, so in most workplaces the questions are about the party, not the mass.
- Schools hold a carol assembly and a nativity play in the week before the break, in every kind of school, not only convent ones.
- Offices run Secret Santa, usually with a spending cap agreed in advance, and a cake in the afternoon.
- Hotels and bakeries hold cake mixing in November, where dried fruit is soaked in rum or juice for the Christmas cakes.
- Carol groups from local churches visit homes through December and collect for church funds or charity. A small donation is the norm, and a polite no is fine too.
What should you write in a Christmas message?
Say something the person will recognise from their own house: the cake their mother bakes, the crib the children build, the church they have gone to since childhood. Keep Santa for children and for office cards.
Merry Christmas, Mum and Dad. Save me a slice of the cake and a place at the table, and tell Father I will call after the mass.
Wishing you and your family a very happy Christmas. Hope the service is lovely and the lunch is long.
Merry Christmas and a happy Natal. If there is any kuswar left by the time I visit, I will be amazed.
Merry Christmas. Twenty-five days of nombu done, now go and enjoy that duck roast.
Merry Christmas from all of us here. The tree is up, the lights are half working as usual, and everyone asked about you.
Warm wishes for Christmas and the year ahead. Thank you for a good year of working together.
Thinking of you all this Christmas. It will be a hard one. Sending love, and I am around if you want company.
Merry Christmas! Be good for one more day, the man with the list is checking twice.
Do
- Wish anyone, of any faith. "Merry Christmas" is ordinary courtesy in India and nobody needs to be Christian to say it or hear it.
- If you are invited to a midnight service, go. Dress modestly, sit at the back, stand and sit with everyone else, and stay out of the communion queue unless you belong to that church.
- Take sweets, a cake, flowers or wine as a house gift, and ask first if the family drinks.
- Remember that many Christian families visit the graves of their relatives at Christmas. A message that mentions the person they are missing is kinder than a jolly one.
Avoid
- Don't assume Christmas means a party for everyone. For many families it is a church day and a quiet lunch.
- Don't fix meetings or deadlines on 25 December for colleagues in Goa, Kerala, Mumbai or the Northeast.
- Don't send food to a Kerala or Goan household before 25 December without asking. Some families are still fasting.
- Bada Din / Boro Din
- The big day, the common name for Christmas in north India and Bengal
- Missa de Galo
- The midnight mass in Goa, named after the rooster said to have crowed at Christ's birth
- Kuswar
- The tray of Christmas sweets that Goan and Mangalorean Catholic families make and give away
- Consoada
- The Christmas Eve meal in Portuguese, and the word behind kuswar; in Goa also the basket of sweets sent on Christmas Eve to a family in mourning
- Nombu
- A fast in Kerala's Christian churches; the Nativity fast runs the 25 days to Christmas
- Qurbana
- The Eucharist service in the Syro-Malabar and Malankara churches of Kerala
- Sannas
- Soft steamed rice cakes from Goa, eaten with sorpotel
Christmas opens a week of holidays that ends with New Year's Day, and Fort Kochi and Goa run their biggest street events in between. The other main dates in India's Christian year are Good Friday, Easter Sunday and, in Kerala, Parumala Perunnal.
How to wish someone on Christmas
A good Christmas wish in India is warm and specific to the person. For a Christian friend or colleague, mention the service, the family meal or the sweets being made at home rather than only Santa and shopping. For a friend in Goa or Kerala, use the food and the church by name. Plain "Merry Christmas" is welcome from anyone, of any faith, and for a family that has lost someone this year, keep it gentle and short.
Write a few lines in your own words, pick a design and share it as one link on WhatsApp, Instagram or anywhere else. They open an animated card made just for them, with no app and no sign-up.
Language tip: English, Hindi + recipient language.
When is Christmas in 2026 and 2027?
Christmas is on 25 Dec every year. Only the weekday changes.
- 2026
- 2027
Frequently asked questions
When is Christmas in 2026?
Christmas 2026 falls on Friday, 25 December 2026.
Is Christmas a public holiday in India?
Yes. 25 December is a holiday for central and state government offices, banks and schools across India, whatever the state's religious make-up. Private offices usually follow the same list, though shops, restaurants and hotels stay open and are among the busiest places in the country that week.
What is Christmas called in India?
In north India it is often called Bada Din, meaning the big day, and Bengali speakers say Boro Din. Goans use the Portuguese word Natal alongside Christmas, and Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu speakers generally use the English word with a local pronunciation.
Where in India is Christmas celebrated the most?
Nagaland, Mizoram and Meghalaya have Christian majorities and mark Christmas as their biggest festival of the year. Goa, Kerala, coastal Karnataka, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad and the tribal districts of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh all have large, old Christian communities with their own customs and food.
What is kuswar?
Kuswar is the tray of Christmas sweets that Goan, Mangalorean and Karwari Catholic families make in December and share with neighbours. It can run to twenty or more items, including bebinca, dodol, kulkuls, neureos, perad and bolinhas, and the word comes from consoada, the Indo-Portuguese name for the Christmas Eve meal.
Can a non-Christian wish someone Merry Christmas or attend midnight mass?
Yes to both. Wishing Merry Christmas is normal courtesy in India regardless of your own faith, and visitors are welcome at a midnight service. Dress modestly, do what everyone around you does, and stay out of the communion queue unless you belong to that church.
What food is eaten at Christmas in India?
It changes by region. Goa serves sorpotel with sannas and a tray of kuswar sweets, Kerala breaks its Nativity fast with appam and stew, duck roast and plum cake, the Northeast holds community meals of pork or beef with rice, and Mumbai's Catholic homes make marzipan, milk cream and rose cookies.
Last verified by the Kehdoo team on .