Mangaluru: As the Christmas season approaches, the Mangaluru and Udupi get colourful.

While the shops start displaying colourful stars, greeting cards and other accessories about a month prior to Christmas, bakeries too get busy preparing cakes and Christmas delicacies called kuswar. Many churches and enthusiastic youngsters begin preparing cribs depicting landscapes, contemporary scenes, Rome or Bethlehem.

Mangaluru and Udupi are known for their historical and aesthetic churches. Be it the Rosario Cathedral, Lady of Miracles Church or Milagres Church, Holy Cross Church at Kulshekar, St Xavier Church at Bejai, Infant Jesus shrine atop Carmel Hill at Bikarnakatte, St Aloysius Chapel, St Sebastian’s Church at Bendoor, St Joseph’s Seminary at Jeppu, Our Lady of Remedies Church near Kinnigoli, Our Lady Of Miracles Church at Kallianpur or Mother of Sorrows Church in Udupi, each church has its own significance.

There was a time when people used to prepare for Christmas at least two months in advance. They used to ‘sow the seeds’ and recreate the birth places of Jesus Christ (Bethlehem or Jerusalem) to make the crib look real and artistic, mix cakes (40 to 45 days in advance as the nuts, raisins, chocolate chips and currants have to be marinated in liquor for not less than a month), prepare kuswar and give clothing material for stitching.

However, circumstances have changed today and most go for ready made items.

Kuswar is nothing but the traditional sweets made during Christmas season, including half moon-shaped nevryo, kideo, round-shaped gulio, the star-shaped kokkisan, rice laddu and the diamond-shaped tukdi. It also, of course, includes cakes with different shapes and flavours – these range from plain ones to the cream-based cakes.

In the bygone days, family members would gather to prepare it themselves and the kuswar was distinctly Mangalurean in flavour. It is also a practice to share kuswar with family and friends.

“Many years ago, all the members of the family used to join hands to prepare kuswar. Now, my children have grown up and settled abroad. I am also comfortable buying kuswar from bakery,” says Mangaluru-based Judith D’Silva.

Another tradition that defines Christmas is the singing of carols. Come Christmas, many families sing to their favourite Christmas tunes. Many of these tunes are timeless classics sung by popular singers and can be heard playing out of many homes.

While Christmas celebrations end a day or two after December 25, it is not so in the coastal districts. In fact, the season of celebration continues even after the New Year Day. With so much happening, it is hard to enjoy the festive fervour that December brings.