Thiruvananthapuram, March 27 (IANS) Christians in Kerala on Sunday celebrated Easter in all its splendour with a bit of everything -- prayers, good food and drinks.
From early morning, most homes saw activity as people got ready to go to their churches for the Easter mass.
The parish vicars handed over a piece of cake to the believers, and in some churches, a sip of wine, signalling the end of the 50-day Lent, when the most devout Christians turn vegetarian.
The Easter breakfast had delicious items like appam (pancake made of rice flour mixed with toddy), chicken stew, beef roast, duck dishes, steamed bananas, egg roast and cake.
After the meal, most people rested awhile as for the past one week, prayers in churches were generally held either early in the morning or at night.
In many homes, the Easter lunch on Sunday had the conventional rice dishes accompanied by various curries and non-vegetarian items like fish and meat.
Many people had steaming hot biriyani.
For many people, Easter is never complete without a drink.
"We returned from church around 6 a.m. and had a drink. We then had our breakfast and soon went to bed. Got up around noon, had another round of drinks and had lunch. We will have another round and this year's Easter comes to a close with dinner," said K.J. Abraham, who has come for a short vacation from Kuwait.
According to the latest census report, of the 33.4 million population of Kerala, there are 61.41 lakh Christians. Of this, Catholics account for over 50 percent.
