Not steampunk at all, but definitely an interesting take on our globalizing world. Christmas, treated as a secular and a religious holiday, has impacted cultures both Western and non-Western in a myriad of ways. The Boston Globe recently posted a photo set of how Christmas is celebrated worldwide; here are some notable images below.
Christian pilgrims pray in the Church of the Nativity, the site revered as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, on Christmas Eve December 24, 2010. (REUTERS/Darren Whiteside)
Pakistani Christian women pray during the midnight Christmas service at the Catholic Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on Saturday, Dec. 25, 2010 in Lahore, Pakistan. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Residents of the village of Remedios, 350 Km east of Havana, Cuba, watch fireworks during the traditional "Parrandas" celebration early on the morning of December 25, 2010. Upon the arrival of socialism in Cuba, Christmas celebrations were substituted by the "Parrandas" (Partying) during which the revellers enjoy fireworks and parades of "carrozas" (floats) until the morning. (ADALBERTO ROQUE/AFP/Getty Images)
Bulgarian Patriarch Maxim, center, leads the traditional Christmas Mass at the golden-domed Alexander Nevsky cathedral in downtown Sofia, Bulgaria on Saturday Dec. 25, 2010. (AP Photo / Valentina Petrova)
A Hindu man has his forehand painted with a message in Hindi "Happy Christmas" on the river banks of the Ganges river on the eve of Christmas, in the northern Indian city of Allahabad on December 24, 2010. (REUTERS/Jitendra Prakash)
Homeless people attend a Christmas mass celebrated in a bus in Nice, southeastern France on December 25 2010. (REUTERS/Eric Gaillard)
A homeless child holds a candle during a street Christmas celebration at Dom Pedro Park in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil on December 24, 2010. The event was organized by the charitable organisation Alianca da Misericordia. (REUTERS/Nacho Doce)
Indonesian children dressed in Santa Claus costumes sing along to Christmas carols in Jakarta, Indonesia on December 26, 2010.
South Sudanese gather following the Christmas service at the Juba Catholic Cathedral, in the southern Sudan's capital city on December 25, 2010, in what may be their last Christmas in a unified Sudan. A referendum for southern independence will be held on January 9 and probably lead to the partition of this nation the largest on the African continent. (Trevor Snapp/AFP/Getty Images)
Myanmar Christians pray as they celebrate Christmas at St. Mary's Cathedral on Saturday, Dec. 25, 2010, in Yangon, Myanmar. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)
Filed under: Beyond Victoriana Odds and Ends Tagged: cross-post, holidays, photography, transnational
