Kerala Christians celebrate Easter Sunday

Devout Kerala Christians hurried to churches early Sunday morning to attend the Easter mass, and then returned to their homes to get ready for the sumptuous Easter breakfast.

Some churches had their Easter mass quite early in the morning and with sunrise people had returned to their homes.

The Easter service ends in most churches when the priest offers a piece of cake, and at some churches a teaspoon of wine is first served.

Starting from Palm Sunday last week, Christians, who form nearly a quarter of Kerala's 33 million people, have been busy with rituals and festivities associated with the Holy Week, also known as the Passion Week, ending with Sunday's morning mass.

"It's after several years that I took the entire season of Lent when I was a complete vegetarian.... So the Easter breakfast was delicious," said Mathew Thomas, a medical professional.

After the mass, the most important event of the day is the family joining together for breakfast. The menu is traditional, comprising of appam, chicken stew, beef roast, while at some places duck is the important non-vegetarian dish, besides steamed bananas, egg curry, a piece of cake and wine.