SHILLONG/TURA: The festival of Easter was celebrated with much pomp and enthusiasm across the state on Sunday especially in Shillong which witnessed a large number of people taking part in prayer services.
Thousands of devotees attended special church services in the city celebrating the resurrection of Christ from the dead.
Similar celebrations were also held in different parts of the state as many were seen exchanging greetings in keeping up with the spirit of the occasion.
Easter, which is celebrated by Christians all over the world as the day of Christ’s resurrection, follows Good Friday or the day Christ was crucified.
The day marks the culmination of the 40 days of Lent which is a period of fasting, prayer, and penance to commemorate the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with the President and Vice President of India also took the opportunity to greet the people on the occasion.
People across Garo Hills celebrated Easter with religious fervour as thousands of Christians flocked to their own churches.
Celebrations began in the Catholic Church with the observance of Easter Vigil on Saturday night in preparation for the resurrection of Christ.
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.
As the priests chanted from the holy Scriptures, faithful lit their respective candles and proceeded in a procession into the church for the Easter Service singing hymns of praise as church bells chimed.
During midnight service, the traditional blessing of water took place for the faithful followed by the Baptism ceremony during the morning Holy Mass.
In the oldest church in Tura – the Tura Baptist Church, the faithful took part in the age old traditional Sunrise Service at daybreak. Children and adults from various localities of Tura were seen making their way to the Tura Baptist Church to join the celebrations at the break of dawn as special hymns were sung.
It was also a day for many to remember their dear departed ones as families visited cemeteries to light candles, place flowers or offer prayers in memory of the departed souls.