Our Correspondent
Kohima, April 20 (EMN): Easter Sunday is considered one of the most important days for Christians, marking the Christ’s resurrection. Despite the significance of ‘the resurrection’, the day is generally overshadowed by Christmas. Yet for some, it is zealously celebrated.
Niekhoyi Rhakho, a teacher at Government High School, Lozaphuhu village in Phek district spoke about how Christians, particularly the Catholics, celebrate Easter Sunday in Nagaland. It marks the ‘Holy Week’ where Jesus Christ is resurrected from the death. On this day, people believe that their sins are cleansed through repentance and reconciliation, he said.
The general assumption is that Christmas is a “grander affair or celebration.” However, according to Rhakho, that is not the case with the Catholics. “We take it as a very important day. We need to celebrate Easter as grandly as Christmas, because it is the day that assured us of Jesus Christ’s resurrection,” he asserted.
For Catholics, Easter Sunday is not just a single-day-affair. The week of Good Friday, starting from Monday, is referred to as ‘Holy Week.’ Thursday becomes all the more significant as it is called ‘Maundy Thursday.’ The day signifies the importance of ‘The Last Supper’ where Jesus threw a feast for the twelve disciples. “On Good Friday we fast till 12 pm or so, where any form of meat is avoided,” Rhakho explained.
Khrote-ü Lasuh, a resident of Kohima, agreed that Nagas celebrates Christmas in a huge way but not so when it comes to Easter Sunday. “But in real sense, Easter must be more joyous,” according to Lasuh.
“Somehow, we fail to understand the real meaning of cross and the resurrection,” she added. Lasuh felt that Good Friday and Easter Sunday not having specific dates—unlike Christmas which falls on December 25 every year—could be one reason “why people don’t really give importance.”
According to Jom S, a public relations consultant in Bengaluru, the celebration of anybody’s birth in the world is widely known, but it is not the same with death. Death is “always” a low-key affair for any human, he said.
