Hyderabad: They say never underestimate any festival in Hyderabad, and the same applies to Christmas. The city’s celebrations were a mix of celebrations in 400-year-old churches, thousands attending at midnight, Muslim Bakery’s famous plum cakes and children among carts selling balloons outside the century-old church.
Although known for its Islamic heritage and old bazaars, Hyderabad also has 16th-century churches built by Portuguese, French and British missionaries.
At St Joseph’s Cathedral in Gunfoundry, hearing-impaired children, who came to the church to learn sign language, gathered to celebrate the day. The cathedral’s famous bells rang at midnight on Wednesday, bringing more than 5,000 visitors to the adjacent All Saints School grounds. Among them were believers and visitors of all faiths.
“We welcome everyone, regardless of faith. Many come just to experience mass and explore the church,” said council member Alexander Vincent.
The cathedral itself is a representation of the city’s layered heritage. One of its tower bells was imported from Italy in the 1890s. Due to the weight of the set forming part of the other tower, it was lost during transport as it had to fall into the sea. Just below the bell is a clock which was gifted by Mir Osman Ali Khan during his visit to Midnight Mass in 1953.
The visit also has an interesting story. The Nizam and 60 nobles attended the mass dressed in freshly tailored suits that his royal tailor, John Burton, was tasked with completing within six hours.
While a Muslim ruler gifted these important properties to the church, an interesting thing about St. Joseph’s is that it supplies its plum cakes to the Muslim-owned Subhan Bakery. “Imagine, Muslims are baking plum cakes in a church celebrating a Christian festival where people from all communities participate,” commented one visitor.
The aroma of freshly baked plum cakes associated with Christmas also wafted through different parts of the city.
Near the Narayanguda Metro station, for example, courtesy of Master Bakers, the smell reached the other side of the road.
At the Centenary Methodist English Church in Abids, a sense of community defined the celebration. The 100-year-old church welcomed people with slices of plum cake, warm greetings, and a morning service.
Sitting alone in the gathering, Chef Abhijit Mandal, who came from Kolkata 19 years ago, said, ‘I have been coming here for 18 years, especially on Christmas day. “I come here, attend prayers, and feel a sense of belonging.”
“Jesus never taught us to be a religion, but only to love and live peacefully. That’s what we do here,” said Raja Praveen, charity treasurer of the Centenary Methodist English Church in Abids.
Hyderabad’s Christmas spirit is not only found in its churches. It lives in moments like a child learning sign language at a special gathering for the hearing-impaired at St. Joseph, a pastor reflecting on a lifetime spent with a Methodist community, or the warmth of a Muslim bakery with a Christian congregation. Celebrating the season together.