The history of Christmas dates back to thousand years. In fact many of the Christmas traditions celebrated these days were also in existence centuries before the birth of Jesus Christ. In the Western world, the Christmas Day has been celebrated as the birthday of Jesus since AD 354. However, later in the eighteenth century, another alternative explanation came out, according to which, the date of Christmas was chosen to match up with the winter solstice, which was again marked in the ancient times on the same day (December 25).
If we are to find the roots of the Christmas traditions, we may need to go back to the age of Mesopotamian culture which had the tradition of celebrating New Year. The same kind of tradition was also the part of the Persian and Babylonian culture. They had the festival called the ‘Sacaea’. On the other hand, there was also a festival in Scandinavia known as ‘Yule’, which was celebrated during the winter months. All these festivals have had great impact on the present day Christmas.
The customs of the modern age Christmas started in the Middle Ages. The carol became associated with the birth of Jesus Christ since the 14th century. The Saints Day has also contributed in a great way in Christmas History. With the course of time, a number of other customs also got associated with the occasion.
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