The Delhi High Court has stayed proceedings in a criminal defamation case filed against Sudarshan TV and its editor Suresh Chavhanke in connection with allegations that his channel made false accusations against a madrasa. The case against Chavhanke was filed by Mohammed Tufail Khan
China said on Sunday (August 23, 2026) it was postponing its planned ambitious Chang'e-7 lunar mission, which was set to carry out explorations including searching for water ice on the moon. The Chang'e-7 spacecraft was originally set to lift off in the coming days from the Wenchang Space Launch
Canada’s Carney Puts His ‘No Deal Is Better Than a Bad Deal’ Doctrine to the Test The prime minister ’s approach has broad support from the Canadian public and his political opponents, but it isn’t without risks. Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 14:05:27 IST WSJ Prefer HTon Google Share via
A group of former cricket captains, including Indian batting legend Sunil Gavaskar and one of England's longest-serving skippers Sir Alastair Cook, have called on Pakistan to ensure its ex-PM Imran Khan be given proper care while in custody. The cricketer-turned-politician has been in jail since
Fewer than 20 commodity vessels transited the Strait of Hormuz at the weekend, shipping data showed on Monday (August 24, 2026), as Iranian and U.S. blockades restrict traffic through the chokepoint for energy shipments. Four vessels crossed the strait on Sunday (August 23, 2026)
A balmy Christmas: Indians have made the festival and Christian faith their own
For the past 43 Christmases, a tapestry has hung in my mother's home. Lately, it has come to represent a contradiction.
A gift from Ethiopia by dear friends of my grandparents, the tapestry depicts Mary cradling baby Jesus, both encircled by golden halos: it is renaissance-style imagery with both figures pale-skinned while Christ has bouncing, golden curls and bright, blue eyes.
Ethiopia was among the earliest regions to adopt Christianity, around the fourth century, according to historians. I am not an art scholar, but unlike our tapestry, religious illustrations and artwork from Ethiopia between the 14th century to the late 18th century are distinct, featuring figures with brown skin, black hair and eyes and beards.
Startlingly, they look Middle Eastern.
With Israel's assault on Gaza stretching into its third Christmas, the idea that Christ was a Palestinian has resurfaced at protests and rallies as Christians in Gaza and the Palestinian territories in the West Bank mark the festival.
Historians and scholars of religious studies say there is not enough evidence to state precisely where Christ was born and that Palestine, despite its long history, had undefined and shifting boundaries. However, it is agreed that Christ was born in West Asia and was certainly not white.
Non-white representations of Christ and Christianity are widespread even though churches, certainly in India, abide by idealised European-style imagery. There is a wealth of art and iconography, fromMughal art and Ethiopian manuscripts to “Black Jesus” and the work of Indian artists, of varying depictions of Christianity.
The Ethiopian tapestry, with its marble-skinned iconography, instead reinforces what faith and divinity must look like.
Tradition maintains that Christianity arrived in the Indian subcontinent as early as 52 CE, but it is also intertwined with the European colonisation of India. For Indian Christians, this can be a double bind: Hindutva supporters claim that they are not sufficiently Indian while some in the West believe that they are not appropriately Christian. But this ambivalence is also a flexible space of being, unique to one's life and location.
Indeed, the book Indian Christmas is a heartfelt archive of how India's many Christians have made the festival their own through food, ritual and faith. Last December, Scroll's Nolina Minj wrote about how Adivasi Christians celebrate Christmas in Jharkhand with Kurukh carols, traditional food and Adivasi figures in the nativity scene.
These contradict the accusations that arise every Christmas of the faith being an obscene Western import.
Christianity's violent colonial legacy is a historical reality, but Christianity has also been rooted in and transformed by the lives and cultures of those who went on to follow it. Faith, after all, is given meaning by those who practise it and perhaps find in it whatever it is they seek.
The blogIndigenous Jesus collects iconography and artwork showing how the faith has been reimagined across the world, by Indigenous Americans and Australians, Nigerians and several Indian artists.
Scroll has extensively covered the work of some of these artists, such as FN Souza and especially Angelo da Fonseca, whose art inhabits the contradictions of Christian identity. They were both born in Portuguese-ruled Goa, which was later integrated into India.
Fonseca's evocative Christian iconography is a bridge between these two worlds. In one nativity painting, Fonseca's Mary, wearing a saree and mangalsutra, holds an infant, faintly emitting rays of light while Joseph stands behind her, his hands folded in prayer.
Like Fonseca, Indian artist Alfred Thomas's Life of Christ, a collection of his paintings first published in 1948, depicts a Buddha-like Christ. The introduction to the book says that Thomas “places our Lord and His followers in Indian settings. He employs Indian symbolism, interpreting it in the light of Christian faith”.
Yet, the writer of the introduction, presumably George, the Bishop of Calcutta and Metropolitan, is perhaps unsettled. He writes that Thomas's depiction of transfiguration, the moment when Christ undergoes divine transformation on a mountaintop, “is the most difficult picture”.
Contrary to the depictions of Christ exuding radiant power, Thomas's Christ closely resembles Buddha and is also clearly dark-skinned. “The joy of perfect colouring and design is marred at first sight for us by the blue of Christ's glorified Body,” writes the bishop. “But that which to us is so strange is immediately understandable to Indian eyes.”
But it was Fonseca's iconography that sparked the most outrage, drawing the censure and criticism of the church as well as Indian Christians, forcing the artist to leave Goa. Jesuit priest Delio Mendonca writes in Fonseca that the artist's difficulties “started with his own family, then extended to his entire community including church authorities of his day as well as the art world of India”.
Mendonca quotes FN Souza as saying that the clergy continued to impress upon Christians “the art to be admired was the Christ with the golden hair and blue eyes and flaxen-haired Madonnas, the Italy-made holiness”.
As Mendonca powerfully notes, Fonseca “was to remain paradoxically too Hindu for Catholics and too Catholic for the Hindus, too Indian for the West and too Western for the Indians”.
Over the years, Mendonca writes, the church in the 20th century began reconsidering its position on indigenised iconography, keen to disassociate itself from the cruelties of colonial conquest as independence movements gathered steam across the colonies.
The acceptance of iconography, like Fonseca's, was recast as part of the church's advocacy of Christian universalism.
Today, when December feels lost beneath a heap of tinsel and terrible Christmas movies – almost always set against snowfall and flowing coats – the priest's annual lament that “Christmas is not about Santa, gifts and cake” rings true.
But cotton snow, wreaths and candy canes jostle for room alongside Indian influences such as the exuberant, skinny Santa Clauses who dance to drumbeats as they accompany carolers in Kerala, Christmas “faral” and the like.
Snow is hardly a prerequisite for the festival and like in balmy Kerala or Mumbai, not everyone is dreaming of a White Christmas.
Beyond the dominant aesthetic sensibilities of a European-American Christmas is a world of varying, unique celebrations. The widespread festive embrace of this time of year, though Christ wasn't even born in December – and what we are all celebrating is actually the Winter Solstice – is a brief but heartening moment.
Perhaps, in another time, my grandparents' tapestry could have told a different story. But for now it is a reminder to seek out the more varying threads of faith that make for a more colourful tapestry.
Source: Scroll
Related Posts: India, Culture and Lifestyle, indian christmas, how do indians celebrate christmas, ethiopia nativity art, ethiopian eastern church iconography
India had asked the United States not to allow reporters to ask questions during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the G7 summit in France in June, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said on Saturday
8 hours ago
Former Australian captain Greg Chappell with the support of 20 other former international skippers appealed to the Pakistan Government led by Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, to provide ‘humane treatment and proper medical care’ for Imran Khan
11 hours ago
The shock resignation of Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran earlier this month has left corporate India's top job vacant. But finding his successor will be no easy task for the country's most revered conglomerate, whose sprawling $300bn empire spans Jaguar Land Rover and Air India as well as
11 hours ago
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian defended a memorandum of understanding with the United States as the best way out of a stalled war. Meanwhile, the new head of the Islamic Republic's top security body warned, in a more forceful tone, of retaliation if neighbouring countries support U.S
11 hours ago
Authorities in China have launched an investigation into reports of formaldehyde being used to preserve the freshness of cabbages for human consumption. Officials in the northeastern Hebei province confirmed that they had verified footage showing individuals dipping cabbages in a solution before
11 hours ago
Three newborns died after a fire that broke out in the neonatal intensive care unit of a government hospital in Maharashtra’s Amravati district in the early hours of Monday, PTI reported. The fire broke out at the Amravati District Women’s Hospital around 3
11 hours ago
Imran's party demands immediate cardiac care for him at Shifa International Hospital Imran's party demands immediate cardiac care for him at Shifa International Hospital Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 11:10:49 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Islamabad
11 hours ago
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s three-day visit to New Delhi in July 2026 for the India-Japan summit appears to have elevated relations between the two Asian countries into a fresh phase of strategic expansion. Ties had already undergone a remarkable transformation over the past decade
11 hours ago
How well do COVID antivirals actually work? Not as well as we thought How well do COVID antivirals actually work? Not as well as we thought Published on: Aug 24, 2026, 11:11:50 IST PTI Prefer HTon Google Share via Copy link Sydeny, If you're aged over 70
11 hours ago
On Sunday, in a post on X, Wali said the audio contained "explosive evidence" and claimed that Brar admitted his gang had ordered Nijjar's killing, alleging that the assassination was driven by an inter-gang feud. Ottawa: Three years after NIA designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar was killed in
15 hours ago
Until recently, there would have been little to distinguish Vietnam's so-called Justice Tree from the hundreds of others lining the streets of Hanoi. Then the bouquets started piling up. It was here that former politician Nguyen Sy Cuong was driving his BMW in May last year when he veered into the
15 hours ago
Fast-fashion giant Shein says it plans to raise up to HK13.86bn (£1.3bn; $1.77bn) when its shares start trading on the Hong Kong stock market on 1 September. In a filing on Monday, Shein said it will offer nearly 280 million shares for between HK$47.60 and HK$49.50
15 hours ago
A fast-moving, wind-driven wildfire near Reno, Nevada, has forced about 42,000 people to evacuate, while another 45,000 have been urged to prepare to leave. The Hawk Fire has burned 15,040 acres, destroyed some homes and injured six people. Officials declared a state of emergency as the blaze
15 hours ago
Former Indian diplomat Navdeep Suri has raised concerns about the verification process under the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls. Suri, a retired Indian Foreign Services officer, went through the process in Punjab. It is among the 16 states where the voter roll revision is being
15 hours ago
A moderate earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.9 rattled eastern Japan, including the Tokyo area, early Sunday (August 23, 2026), injuring more than 20 people, most of them slightly, officials said. There was no danger of a tsunami. According to the Japan Meteorological Agency
1 days ago
Chinese humanoid robots broke records set by humans, including beating Usain Bolt’s 100-meter sprint world record, on the opening day of the Olympics-like World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday (August 22, 2026). More than 2,000 humanoid robots were participating in the event
1 days ago
One afternoon in 1907, a young accountant named Chandrasekhar Venkata Raman walked into the laboratory of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science at 210 Bowbazar Street in Calcutta. Though he had a passion for the sciences, colonial India offered no stable careers in the field
1 days ago
Three first information reports were filed against 14 identified and more than 200 unidentified persons on Saturday in connection with clashes between the police and student protesters a day earlier, PTI quoted Ranchi Superintendent of Police Paras Rana as saying
1 days ago
Did an Amazon delivery guy assault a 71-year-old man in California? What we know about the attack and lawsuit A California lawsuit alleged that an Amazon delivery driver assaulted a 71-year-old man at an Elk Grove gas station. Updated on: Aug 23, 2026
1 days ago
‘Pure evil’: Videos of mothers splashing water at their kids spark outrage amid Lindsay Clancy trial Social media videos of mothers throwing water at their children have sparked concerns amid Lindsay Clancy's trial. Published on: Aug 23, 2026
1 days ago
The sister of jailed former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Saturday (August 22, 2026) filed a petition in the Supreme Court, accusing the government and senior officials of violating the top court’s order to shift him to a private hospital for medical examination and treatment
1 days ago
The United States and Canada have entered into uncharted territory. The longtime allies and economic partners, who have enjoyed free trade for decades, are now in an escalating trade war with no clear off ramp. And for Prime Minister Mark Carney
1 days ago
Harrisburg weather update: Special Weather Statement issued for central Pennsylvania as thunderstorms bring 40mph wind NWS has issued a Special Weather Statement for Harrisburg and surrounding parts of central Pennsylvania. Published on: Aug 23, 2026
1 days ago
The police in Maharashtra’s Latur have registered a first information report against Abhijeet Dipke, the founder of the Cockroach Janta Party political campaign, for allegedly entering a government school without permission, threatening teachers and defaming the institution
1 days ago
The United States and Iran exchanged defiant messages ahead of Monday’s (August 24, 2026) scheduled announcement of new U.S. economic sanctions that could impact the Islamic Republic and Tehran’s most important trading partners including China
1 days ago
Fourteen people were killed in military air strikes at a monastery in Myanmar early on Friday, opposition fighters and a local rescue worker have said. All of those killed were elderly and a number of monks were also injured, the rescue worker told BBC Burmese, adding that the site was struck twice
1 days ago
The Armed Forces Tribunal on Thursday upheld an administrative censure for a brigadier who was commanding a sector of the Rashtriya Rifles in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district in December 2023 when three civilians died during an interrogation following a militant attack
1 days ago
