Munni Begum/Guwahati

In India, Christmas is often conjured up by images of the beaches of Goa or churches decorated with colourful lights in Kerala. But in the north eastern part of India, Christmas has been celebrated with sophisticated beauty in the rolling hills of the valley covered with white fog. It remains one of the most extraordinary yet untold stories in the country.

Christmas in the Northeast is not just a festival, but a combination of identity, community, music and memories. Some of the largest Christian population live in Nagaland, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh and parts of Assam in north eastern India. For many of its peoples, Christianity came not only as a religion, but also as social change, education, scriptural and cultural evolution. And so Christmas is celebrated here with a kind of sincerity, both spiritual and communal.

Villages in the Northeast prepare for Christmas from weeks ahead. Every evening the choirs rehearse for the mass service in the church. After all, music is the heartbeat of Christmas in the Northeast.

A Church in Shillong get ready for Christmas celebrations

If the Northeast gives the world one thing, it is music during Christmas, music becomes a living being of it. Groups of young people visit the elderly and the sick. Communities clean and decorate the entire neighbourhood. Unlike some of the popular festivals in this part of the country, Christmas is a people’s festive which is not commercially driven.

Similarly, Meghalaya has a European-style music culture at Christmas. Often referred to as the music capital of India, Shillong is now transformed into a live concert stage. Churches and youth groups here continue to reflect the Western classical tradition by performing carols with multi-layered harmony, violin and keyboard music arrangements.

A city square in Aizwal, Mizoram

Every region of Mizoram has its own concerts on Christmas Day. Its Christmas events involve energetic choirs, with thousands of voices rising together like a heartbeat to perform enthusiastically.Moreover, in the Northeast, Christmas food is not just a restaurant menu, but a tribal dish based on slowly cooked widely shared centuries old food tradition.

In Nagaland, roasted pork with bamboo shoot, fermented soybean dishes, sticky rice and fresh herbs are cooked in large wooden dishes for community feasting by the entire village together. In Mizoram, families keep the doors of their homes open for guests throughout Christmas by presenting fresh pork stew, cooked vegetables and traditional sticky rice called bai.

Christmas decoration in Northeast is taken to another level

Meanwhile, in Meghalaya, jadoh, a rich and beacon recipe often referred to as the Meghalaya version of pulao, wood-fired rice flour cakes are the main delicacies served and every household welcomes visitors with hot food and warm smiles. This sharing of food is not casual, it is part of the culture. It represents equality, family and the belief that, at Christmas, no one should be left alone.

Christmas is celebrated in the natural beauty of the Northeast, unlike the use of plastic decorations in some of the major cities of India. It uses pine trees collected from the forest on Christmas Day, handmade bamboo stars, small candles in glass jars, children’s hand-drawn crafts, and colourful flowers. The churches are splendidly decorated with colourful lights every day.

Rice cake, trational christmas food being sold in Kohima, Nagaland

The midnight service here is very important for Christmas. Although it is different than elsewhere, these gatherings feel like a large community event which features cultural performances, carol competitions, biblical dramas, and youth-led street parades. Special sermons are delivered in the local tribal language, grandmothers come out in shawls, children don traditional attires, and young men and women crowd the streets singing carols late into the night.

Faith here is not rigid or formal but rather joyous and deeply communal. Christmas is not a time of shopping, it is a tradition of giving. In the Northeast, the oldest concept of Christmas is celebrated as 'giving'. The youth groups visit the orphanages. Churches distribute blankets and food. Neighbours hand out handmade sweets. Young students help decorate the homes of the elderly. Christmas is not about a brand, it’s all about belonging.

A Carol singers' group

Even without the snow, the spirit of Christmas in the Northeast feels like a winter fairy tale with the cool mountain air, the mist settling on the pine trees, the stars shining on the silent valleys, a night shrouded in silence, someone humming and singing in the distance. There is a peace to be found here that takes away from the noise of commerce and makes Christmas pure.

Christmas in the Northeast is one of India's most vibrant cultural treasures. Which teaches us that, festival refers to community, music, simplicity, kindness, togetherness. Every illuminated church, every dish on every plate, every song of harmony sung under the starry open sky reminds us that, at the heart of Christmas lies humanity.

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Christmas in the Northeast is a festival where faith meets culture, tradition meets love and where the voices of young and old alike become part of the hymn of harmony.