Christians celebrate Christmas Day as the anniversary of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, a spiritual leader whose teachings form the basis of their religion. Popular customs include exchanging gifts, decorating Christmas trees, attending church, sharing meals with family and friends and, of course, waiting for Santa Claus to arrive.
Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day. Since tradition holds that Jesus was born at night (based in Luke 2:6-8), Midnight Mass is celebrated on Christmas Eve, traditionally at midnight, in commemoration of his birth.
This holiday is one of the most significant festivals of the Sikh community and commemorates Guru Nanak Sahib who was the founder of Sikhism and the first Sikh Guru.
The rituals of the festival are rigorous and are observed over a period of four days. The third day, known as Chhath, is considered the main day of the festival. People include holy bathing, fasting and abstaining from drinking water, standing in water for long periods of time, and offering prashad and arghya to the setting and rising sun.
During Mawlid celebrations, the national flag is hoisted on all public buildings, and a 31-gun salute in Islamabad and a 21-gun salute at the provincial headquarters are fired at dawn. Hundreds of thousands of people gather at Minar-e-Pakistan Lahore between the intervening night of 11th and 12th Rabi’ al-awwal for Mawlid celebrations, this is the worlds biggest gathering for Mawlid celebrations.