TURA: People across Garo Hills marked Easter with religious fervour as thousands of Christians attended Church service to celebrate the resurrection of Lord Jesus Christ, marking this to be one of the most holy events in the Christian calender.
Celebrations began in the Catholic Church with the Observance of Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday night in preparation to commemorate the resurrection of the Lord.
During the vigil, churches across Garo Hills were kept in darkness until the lighting of the Paschal candle, the first candle to be lit with a flame from the sacred fire signifying the light of Christ coming into the world.
In the Catholic Church, the Paschal candle assumes immense religious importance as it represents the risen Christ, as a symbol of light and life dispelling darkness and death.
As the priests chanted from the holy Scriptures, “The light of Christ, rising in Glory, dispel the darkness of our hearts and minds,” devotees lit their respective candles and proceeded in a procession into the church for the Easter Service singing hymns of praise as church bells chymed.
During midnight service the traditional blessing of the water took place for devotees to take back home, and later, during Easter Sunday morning service, parents brought forth their babies for Baptism during holy Mass.
In the oldest church in Tura- the Tura Baptist Church, devotees celebrated Easter with the age old traditional Sunrise Service at daybreak.
Young children and adults from various localities of Tura town, walked in large numbers to the Tura Baptist Church to join the celebrations at the break of dawn as special religious numbers on Easter were sung and the significance of Christ resurrection was announced to the devotees.
It was also a day for many to remember their dear departed ones as families visited cemeteries to light a candle, place a flower or offer a prayer for their loved ones who are no longer amongst them.