GUWAHATI, Dec 23 � Gripped in the yuletide spirit, Guwahati city is all set to celebrate Christmas along with rest of the world. Over the years, there has been a significant growth in Christmas revelry in Guwahati as the festival is now celebrated by the people of both Christian and non-Christian communities.
Decorated with sparkling stars and Christmas trees, Guwahati city has donned a bridal look to celebrate the festival like every year. As the countdown for the New Year has already begun, the spirit of celebrations is in the air.
The churches of the city have also been decked up with colourful lighting and other Christmas accessories. Midnight prayers in the churches tomorrow, would mark the beginning of the festivities. Decorations of St Joseph�s Cathedral at Panbazar are attracting the people.
People were seen doing the last minute shopping for the festival at the markets of Fancy Bazar, Panbazar, Ganeshguri, GS Road etc.
According to Nabaneet Dutta, who put a temporary stall of Christmas goodies every year ahead of the festival, the sale of such decorative items, different sizes of stars, Christmas trees, bells, different gift items have gone up over the years. �Other than the people belonging to Christian community, the commercial establishments are doing bulk purchase of stars, Christmas trees and jingle bells etc., for decoration. The Santa Clause dolls are very popular among children,� he said.
Christmas celebration is incomplete without sweet smelling cakes. Thus, the bakers of Guwahati are doing their best to attract customers. �People nowadays prefer innovative cake designs and new flavours over the conventional ones. For Christmas, we have designed theme-based cakes with Christmas trees, bells and cakes of the shape of nicely packed gift box,� the manager of a popular confectionary shop said.
To attract maximum number of people, specially children, some of the shopping malls of the city have brought �Santa Clauses� who are entertaining the visitors distributing chocolates and mingling with children.
