Armenian Christmas Celebration On 6th January In Kolkata (Calcutta)

The whole world just celebrated the Christmas couple of weeks back. But, do you know, that there are communities, who celebrate the Christmas today i.e. the 6th of January? It might sound new, but they have been celebrating it for centuries. Even centuries before 25th December became Christmas day.

I first came to know about it couple of years back from travel writer Rangan Datta. The Armenians, who settled down in Calcutta much before the British, and build the city’s first church, celebrate Christmas on 6th of January. The Armenian Church of the Holy Nazareth was build in 1724, after their first church, an wooden one, build in 1688, was completely destroyed by a devastating fire in 1707. This is where I attended their Christmas last year.

Why the 6th of January

The exact day of Jesus Christ’s birth has not been historically established, yet. But initially all Christian churches used to celebrate his birthday on the 6th of January. This practice was followed till the 4th century. After that the date was shifted to 25th December to override a pagan feast dedicated to the birth of Sun. It was decided that December 25th will be the official day for Christmas and January 6th will be celebrated as the feast of Epiphany (day that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as human in Jesus Christ). But Armenia continued to celebrate Christmas the orthodox way. Not only the birth of Chirst, but it celebrates His baptism by John the Baptist on this day too, through the “Blessing of Water” ceremony.

I was really excited as I have never attended an Armenian Christmas celebration before. The church was not crowded as the Armenian community in Calcutta is very small. Below are few images which I took.

The Armenians arriving at the church
The Armenians arriving at the church

Armenian Church of the Holy Nazareth
Armenian Church of the Holy Nazareth

Ringing the church bell
Ringing the church bell

The choir
The choir

The choir The choir

The last supper
The last supper

Armenian Christmas Armenian Christmas Armenian Christmas Armenian Christmas Armenian Christmas Armenian Christmas Armenian Christmas Armenian Christmas Armenian Christmas Armenian Christmas Armenian Christmas

I am grateful to Father Zaven Yazichyan and the Calcutta Armenian community for allowing me to experience and photograph their festival.

    Location

Armenian Church of the Holy Nazareth
2 Armenian Street,
Kolkata – 700 001,
West Bengal,
India

14 Comments

Cindy (Vegetarian Mamma)

Thank you for sharing this post! I didn’t not realize the Armenian Christmas is celebrated on January 6th, today! Your pictures are beautiful and I love to learn new things! Thank you for sharing this beautiful piece of culture!

Reply
Sicorra@NotNowMomsBusy

I actually did know that different ethnic cultures celebrated Christmas in January instead of on Dec 25th. Many years I have felt like I wish I had been born as a Ukranian for example, because I feel more “ready” to celebrate Christmas in January then I do in December.

Reply
Amanda

Wow, this sounds like such an interesting idea. By the time Armenian Christmas is celebrated I have everything Christmas expunged from my house. I absolutely love hearing and learning about how different cultures celebrate the holidays. Knowledge leads to appreciation and celebration.

Reply
Emma Spellman

What a beautiful church! I had no idea that some people celebrated Christmas on January 6th. On the plus side a ton of things get marked down on December 26th, so I would be hitting the deals the day after. I also really love the attire it looked like you had a very fun and blessed day.

Reply
Tami

This is interesting information. I’ve always known about Jesus not actually being born in December, but I never really gave much thought to the January celebration. It makes me want to study my Savior’s history a little more.

Reply
Monika

I know about the 6th of January because some Orthodox Christians in the east of my country celebrate it then – I wish I could see one day what it looks like, because I know it only from the stories.

Reply
Elaine J. Masters

So wonderful that the community and church allowed you to photograph the ceremony. I was taken with wondering how you got some of those pictures. Very special. Thanks too for sharing a bit about the history of the celebration.

Reply
Laura

I knew there was a different date for Christmas originally, but didn’t know the whole story behind it. I think it would be really great to be able to celebrate it somewhere else, like Armenia, to see what they do and how they commemorate the day. Great photos!

Reply
Liesbeth

I always love to see how other people celebrate their religion and holidays, even though I’m not religious myself. Thanks for sharing this fantastic experience!

Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *