Bhopal, Mar 20: Ecumenical Easter Mahotsav would be celebrated at Old Campion Ground, Arera Colony on March 23. According to a press statement thousands of Christians from Catholic Church, Malankara Church, Orthodox Church, Jacobite Church, Marthoma Church, Church of North India, Church of South India, Evangelical Church, Eastern churches, Protestant churches, Lutheran churches, Friends Church, Methodist Church, Pentecostal churches and many other smaller churches from Bhopal and nearby areas will participate in the Easter Mahotsav.

According to the release this is the 9th consecutive year of the joint celebration of Ecumenical Easter by the Christian community in Bhopal. Fr Anand Muttungal, the President of Christian Utsav Samiti said, "the aim of this celebration is to share the joy of resurrection of the Lord with all Christians from different denominations and to extend this joy to people of other faiths too. "The Resurrection of Lord Jesus is a hope of life after death to all who believe in his message of love and forgiveness". The programme is to be attended by Dr Leo Cornelio, Archbishop, MP, Babulal Gaur, Minister for Commercial Tax, Sunil Sood, Mayor of Bhopal, Arif Aqueel, MLA, Kaptan Singh Solanki and Umashankar Gupta, MLA.

Pradeep Luther said, "the programmes are kept open to all, no entry fee is charged, we want maximum people to participate in it." The main programmes will be cultural events, Group singing, Fancy dress, Skit Play, tableau and different items. For the attraction for kids we are organising Best Kid and Best couple awards.

There will be various entertainment items like games, a lot for a cake weighing about five kg, three kg and two kg as well. There will be different stalls with edible items, books, and many other domestic items too. The Utsav Samiti is also awarding four important persons from the community who worked for the society at large.

Prof S Daud is to be awarded with "Fr Moore Memorial Education Award." This award is constituted in the name of the first principal and co-founder of the Campion School. Francis Joseph, a dedicated Christian activist who worked for the betterment of the Christian community for over long years will be conferred with Archbishop Eugine D'souza Memorial Religious Achievement Award.

The Christian community will also honour Gyani Dilip Singh for his contribution to the secular fabric of Madhya Pradesh, especially for Bhopal. He will be conferred with Jawaharlal Nehru Secular Award; Dr Asha Singh will be confirmed with Mother Teresa Social Work Award.

The main organisers of the programme are Prof Alexander, Roy John Thatta, Sunish Varghese, Dr SK Lal, Pradeep Luther, Dr Manish Mathew, Rev Andrews, Saji Samual, pastors of various churches, priests, sisters and lay people from various churches are also involved.