Subdued X’Mas festivities in Bengaluru amid Covid curbs

Bengaluru, Dec 25 : For the first time in years, Christmas celebration was subdued in Bengaluru on Friday due to Covid-induced curbs on large congregation in churches and public places to contain the virus spread.
Though the festival was celebrated with gaiety and religious fervour, strict guidelines to maintain physical distancing and wearing masks dampened the spirit of festivity.
“The sudden withdrawal of night curfew was a great relief and in response to our prayers to Jesus, as we did not want to miss the mass in our church on Christmas eve and spend more time in the night with families and friends,” Samuel David, a Catholic devotee, told IANS here.
While the Karnataka government withdrew the 9-day night curfew hours before enforcing it across the state on Thursday, the midnight mass was held from 7-8 p.m. in churches and chapels across the city under Covid guidelines, restricting the gathering to 50 per cent of their capacity.
“Even before the state government announced on Wednesday that curfew would be enforced from Thursday night after 11 p.m., Archbishop Peter Machado advanced the midnight mass to 7 p.m., with advice to bishops to restrict the gathering in all the 150 Catholic churches and webcast the event live for others to attend online from their home,” David said.
Machado conducted the Kannada mass at the Francis Xavier Cathedral near Coles Park in the city centre.