Christians celebrate Easter across Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram, April 21 Christians on Sunday celebrated Easter in Kerala with most churches witnessing huge participation of devotees. The Easter mass got over in most churches around 6 a.m., with priests offering a piece of cake and, at some places, a spoon of wine to the devotees.

The cake and wine symbolise conclusion of around six-week-long lent, which begins on Ash Wednesday and ends approximately six weeks later, before Easter Sunday.

Lent is the period devoted to fasting, abstinence and penitence in commemoration of Jesus Christ's fasting in the wilderness.

After the mass, people rushed home for Easter breakfast, which includes appam (rice flour mixed with toddy), chicken stew, beef roast, besides steamed bananas, egg roast and cake. For some, duck makes an important non-vegetarian dish.

The Easter lunch also has a wide spread, with many preferring biryani or fried rice with a non-vegetarian dish, besides fish.

According to census, Christians account for 6.14 million (2.99 million males and 3.14 million females) of the 33.4 million population of Kerala.