Easter 2025: Date, history, significance and why it inspires millions across India and world. All you need to know

Easter, one of the most significant events in the Christian calendar, will be observed this year on April 20. For more than two millennia, this day has been marked by Christians across the world as the celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection, three days after his crucifixion. It is a festival of profound faith, renewal, and spiritual victory, and its message continues to inspire hope amid darkness for millions globally and in India.

Unlike Christmas, which is fixed on December 25, the date of Easter changes every year. Easter Sunday falls on the first Sunday after the full moon following the vernal equinox. This calculation means it can occur as early as March 22 or as late as April 25.

Easter 2025: The sacred story of Resurrection

The events leading up to Easter are remembered during Holy Week, which begins on Palm Sunday, the day Jesus entered Jerusalem to a cheering crowd. This is followed by Maundy Thursday, which marks the Last Supper, where Jesus dined with his disciples before his arrest.

Good Friday is a day of solemn reflection, recalling Jesus’s trial, crucifixion, and death at Golgotha. Churches conduct prayer services, read the Passion narrative, and hold Stations of the Cross to honor his suffering. The mood is quiet, respectful, and filled with spiritual introspection.

But it is Easter Sunday that brings the faithful together in celebration. It marks the moment when, according to scripture, Jesus’s tomb was found empty, and he appeared to his followers alive—forever altering the path of Christianity.

Easter is celebrated by a wide range of Christian denominations—Roman Catholics, Protestants (including Anglicans, Lutherans, Baptists, and Pentecostals), and Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches.

Roman Catholic churches typically begin Easter with the Easter Vigil on Saturday night—a dramatic and deeply symbolic service that starts in darkness, followed by the lighting of the Paschal candle to signify Christ’s light returning to the world.

Protestant denominations may hold sunrise services, reflecting the Gospel story of women arriving at Jesus’s tomb early in the morning. Orthodox services are often held at midnight, filled with chants, incense, and liturgical drama.

Easter in India

India’s Christian community celebrates Easter with unique cultural and regional traditions. While Christian populations are more concentrated in Kerala, Goa, Tamil Nadu, and Northeast states such as Nagaland, Mizoram and others, Easter is marked by the faithful all over the country, from bustling metros to quiet hill stations.

Churches across denominations are decorated with flowers and candles. The Easter Mass or Sunday service is attended in large numbers, with congregants dressed in white—the colour of resurrection. Hymns, Gospel readings, and sermons about hope and redemption mark the occasion.

Lent, which precedes Easter, is observed through fasting, abstinence, and prayer. Many families avoid meat, alcohol, and festivities during this 40-day period. Easter thus becomes a joyful break from spiritual discipline, celebrated with home-cooked meals, community feasts, and sweets like plum cakes, marzipan eggs, and hot cross buns.

In India, Easter also fosters interfaith and intercultural harmony, with non-Christians often participating in Easter events, reflecting the pluralistic fabric of Indian society.

Beyond its rituals, Easter carries a universal message that transcends borders and religions: light follows darkness, hope outlives despair, and life triumphs over death. In a world burdened by war, loss, and uncertainty, Easter’s message feels especially powerful.