1. If Jared asked you, could you make a timeline of some of the special services or festivals that happen in your local church over the year?
Jared has made a South India photograph timeline for you – is it the same as yours?
© Dr Shirley Hall & Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Council, 2011

2. Christmas at Palamaneer
The Church Year starts with Advent and Christmas. Here at Palamaneer you can see several sights which will be very familiar to English congregations:
Churches are usually decorated on Christmas Eve, often by the young people of a congregation. Here some of the youth group pose beside the Christmas tree and nativity stable they have created. As the Christmas season lasts until Candlemas (February 2nd) these decorations will be left up until then.
The young people also act out a nativity play for the whole church (it is usually the youth group that does this, not the infants as is more common in England).
Father Christmas is a popular figure in India too and often makes an appearance at Christmas parties – here he is being welcomed by singers and drummers!
Different Christmas traditions exist in different areas:
Many town churches get together a group of carol singers who will go out almost every evening in December to sing outside the homes of members of the congregation – it is important that nobody is left out! Of course, the people they visit want to offer hospitality – so at every home the choir will be given drinks and food, so probably the choir will not manage to visit very many homes each night!
Christmas is also a time for charity fundraising. At St John’s Church in Vellore the congregation make up hundreds of parcels of food and other necessaries and on Christmas Eve these are given anonymously to people who are sleeping rough on the streets of Vellore. In the villages, congregations will raise money to buy new sarees for poor widows who cannot afford to buy clothes.
For the pastors Christmas Day is extremely busy as they need to hold a Holy Communion service in every one of their churches – this might mean they have to take twelve, or even more, services in places which can be many miles apart. Often the poor pastor holds the first service at midnight on Christmas Eve, and the last one at midnight Christmas Day – he or she probably doesn’t eat a proper meal all day but keeps going on high energy drinks and snacks. The pastor’s family will have to celebrate Christmas on 26th December!
Christmas dinner will usually be chicken or turkey biryani – biryani is always a favourite party food.
How do you celebrate Advent and Christmas in school and at home?
© Dr Shirley Hall & Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Council, 2011

3. The photographs show the Hindu festival of Pongol when big pots of rice are cooked and offerings made. It is also a day of rest for animals who are garlanded or spotted with paint and given part of the harvest rice (although they usually don’t like that too much!) Harvest Festival services will take place in the churches at the same time and harvest meals shared.
Why don’t we have our Harvest Festival in January in England?
Have you ever been to an animal or pet service? If you had a pet service in your church or school what would you like to happen?
In Tamil Nadu our big Harvest Festival celebrations are in January when the rice is harvested. This is called Pongol.
© Dr Shirley Hall & Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Council, 2011

4. What happens, or doesn’t happen, in Lent?
Lent is a time of self discipline and preparation for Easter, and Christians in Vellore may do many different things:
The clay pot is a charity collecting box – Christians will fill these with coins over Lent for a nominated cause – then as Lent ends they will bring them to church and smash them open! The money may go to help hospitals or schools, perhaps it will be for poor widows who need help to raise their children, or to victims of local disasters.
The crossed out photograph shows that women will give up their favourite accessory – fresh flowers in the hair – for Lent
Some people will miss meals and give their food or money to the poor- most people will miss breakfast and women who work at home may not eat for the whole of Friday – which must be very difficult for them when they are cooking meals for the rest of the family!
There will be regular Bible Study groups and extra church services to attend
Seven people will be selected from each congregation to preach a sermon on Good Friday – these will be people who are good Christians all year round, not just in Lent, and it is a great honour to be chosen – although probably a great worry as well!
© Dr Shirley Hall & Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Council, 2011

5. Does your church have a special procession on Palm Sunday
Does your church have a special procession on Palm Sunday? Is this procession in Palamaneer the same?
Palm Sunday begins Holy Week and both in England and India processions of witness can be seen singing their ways through towns and villages to the church. In fact there is no significant difference between the two countries, but as you look closely you will see that the Christians in Palamaneer are all carrying “palms” of sweet smelling flowers such as jasmine. There is no donkey here either – it is not a common animal in India.
© Dr Shirley Hall & Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Council, 2011

6. This clever painting (a trompe d’oeil) of Jesus’ empty tomb is in the compound of St John’s Church in the fort at Vellore. Early on Easter Sunday the congregation gather around the altar and painting to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus.
The pastor at St John’s Church is fortunate as he has only one church to worry about – pastors with a lot of churches and congregations will have to hold a Holy Communion service in each one on Easter Day (just like they had to do at Christmas).
It is the custom to strip the churches bare of decoration on Good Friday, then late on Saturday they will be filled with wonderful smelling flowers such as jasmine and the doors closed. When the doors are flung open on Easter Day the worshippers are met by a wave of perfume!
Can you design an Easter Garden using this painting for inspiration?
On Easter Day the congregation of St John’s Church in Vellore has their service here. Why?
© Dr Shirley Hall & Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Council, 2011

7. Around Pentecost time many churches hold confirmation services to welcome new members into the Church at the same time as they are celebrating “the birthday of the Church”.
This means the bishop is especially busy, as only bishops can confirm people.
In England Pentecost is still sometimes called Whitsun because “White Sunday” used to be the day people came to be baptised (in their white clothes). Confirmation is the completion of a person’s baptismal vows, so people still wear white on this occasion.
If you look closely you will spot that the bishop’s chaplain (holding the bishop’s crook) is actually Jared himself. Chaplains are pastors who, for a couple of years, will take on special extra duties to support the work of the bishop. It is a great honour to be chosen for this role, and you need to be a good organiser, as it will be your job to make sure the bishop gets where he is supposed to be each day (and bishops’ diaries in India are very full – just like bishops’ diaries in England!
© Dr Shirley Hall & Cambridgeshire Ecumenical Council, 2011