Decked up churches
Churches in Bhubaneswar are also decked up to celebrate the Christmas with fun and fervor. This year St Vincent’s Catholic Church at Janpath in Bhubaneswar which has been renovated held midnight mass. Prayers are being held at Church of Christ (Union Church), the oldest protestant church in Bhubaneswar.
From Christmas trees, Santa Claus masks to caps of all sizes, Christmas shopping is in full swing in the City.
City denizens are making a beeline to buy decoration items like Christmas trees and Santa Claus costumes at Satya Nagar, Unit-I, CRP, Baramunda and other places. This apart many sellers from neighboring states have put up their makeshift outlets to sell Christmas caps, Santa Claus toys on the streets, especially at traffic signals.
Tushar Kanta Jena, a shopkeeper at Unit I said, “We had no business in the last couple of years due to Covid restrictions. As the markets are open now, we brought Christmas goods worth Rs 15-20 lakh from Mumbai and Kolkata. We are expecting good business this year.”
Different malls in city are also decked up to celebrate Christmas. A 40-ft high Christmas tree was unveiled a few days before at Nexus Esplanade Mall in Bhubaneswar. Similarly, Utkal Kanika Galleria also decorated the mall with Christmas theme designs.
Every small and big mall is drawing good footfalls with their live events, food stalls, flashmobs and many more. Special discounts are also being offered.
City hotels wooing millennials
Several hotels in Bhubaneswar, to attract the millennials, started the celebration ahead of Christmas Eve which will continue till New Year. Empires Hotels in Bhubaneswar is organizing Christmas Carnival 2022 with special events planned such as live performance by celebs, fun and entertainment programs , scrumptious delicacies for foodies, surprise gifts, lucky draws at Game Zone, magic shows, Santa Clause ( Live).
Similarly, Mayfair Hotel and Swosti Premium in Bhubaneswar are also celebrating Christmas to increase footfall. Their offers include Gala Cocktail Dinner, Christmas Special Menu for Children, Live Musical Band Performance with singers, Christmas Theme Décor Ambience, Children Fun Activities with MC – DJ, Game Zone (Trampoline, Gun Shoot, Archery, Ball Pool, Bouncy), Magic Show – Tattoo Artist – Santa Clause (Live), Christmas Special Gift Hamper & Plum Cake.
‘Be the secret Santa’
Christmas is not only about hotel parties and gala dinner. Kids of poor and underprivileged too have the rights to the festivities, believes Unmukta Foundation of Bhubaneswar. It is organsing the initiative of ‘Be the secret Santa’ under which the Foundation is asking people to donate books to kids as it will help them in building their future. Those who are not able to donate books we asked them to pay in cash to buy books for the children.
“We have collected around Rs 16,000 for the underprivileged kids to buy books for them. We have also created Aama Kritishaalaa (our creative library) within communities at their doorstep to provide quality books and improve their learning,” said Shweta Agarwal of the Foundation.
