The end of every year marks the celebration of Christmas,
the festival of the birth of Lord Jesus Christ. Christians observe the nativity
and festivity of Jesus. It seems to be the happiest celebrations in the world
particularly, for the children as they eagerly wait to collect gifts from Santa
Claus.
A man wearing red pyjamas, long white beard and a handful of
gift bags, this is his picturesque in our mind when we hear Santa Claus. As
Christmas approaches, children around the world have Santa on their mind. They
are obviously anxious and daydreaming about their potential gift hauls.
Even, I did the same as a child. What about you?
Have you ever known him personally? If yes, well and good, if
NO, then, let's quickly move!
Actually, Who is Santa Claus?
Santa Claus is believed to be known as Father Christmas. He
was a generous kind monk who used to distribute sweets, clothes to the poor
children who couldn’t celebrate Christmas. Decades later, this tradition of
giving gifts on Christmas became prominent and it is still practiced till date.
He becomes to be known as the patron of children and a
magical gift bringer. Santa is also known as Saint Nicholas. Centre
Nicholas was a Bishop who disguised himself with a big Red Hat, red pyjamas
with long white beard in order to give Christmas gifts to the poor children.
Due to his reputation of giving gifts on this day, his stories
of the gift-giving grew. Saint Nicholas transformed into the legendary
character called Santa Claus, who brings Christmas presents to children all
over the world. Santa dropped the gifts to the chimney at midnight, riding in
his reindeer drawn cart.
Some Lesser-Known Facts about Santa Claus
1. Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra, a town in Turkey, earned
his reputation as an anonymous giver as he used to pay the dowries of
impoverished girls and handing out treats and coins to children — often leaving
them in their shoes, set out at night for that very purpose.
2. A 56-line poem by Clement Moore's “A Visit From
Saint Nicholas”, more commonly referred to as "Twas the Night Before
Christmas" was first published anonymously in the Troy, N.Y.,
Sentinel on Dec. 23, 1823. The poem introduced and popularized Santa's sleigh
guided by eight tiny reindeer.
3. In 1881, the political cartoonist Thomas Nast gave Santa his red clothes. However, it wasn’t the official fashion for Santa. Back then, Santa’s dress could be of any color. It's because of Coca Cola, the red color became locked as only fashion for Santa.
In 1931, a massive campaign
was launched by the Coco Cola company where the white and the predominant red
color of Coke was used for featuring Santa and it remained that way. It's the
coco cola that played the role in shaping Santa's costume color. He's been used
for advertising.
4. People belonging to Netherland and Belgium refer
to Santa as Sinter Klaas, their legend said that he used to keep two list of
nice children and naughty children.
5. For the first time, Mrs. Claus was mentioned in
the 1849 short story" A Christmas Legend" by James Rees.
6. St. Nicholas Day is celebrated every year on 6th
December to commemorate his worthwhile living of life.
Saint Nicholas played a great
significance in Christmas over the passing generations. Christmas brings the entire
family together to celebrate each other's joys, sorrows, happiness and small
children feel privileged to be part of the family.
It's the season of sharing and receiving gifts for which they have waited for a very long time. Clanging church bells, sweet carols in the cold winter all make Christmas a very blissful moment.
Santa brings in a lot of happiness in the family. He has
become an epitome of happiness, joy all around the world.
Written by - Mickel Lepcha
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