LEGEND OF SANTA CLAUS

 

    ''Santa Claus is anyone who loves another and seeks to make them happy; who gives himself by though or word or deed in every gift that he bestows''

                                                 - Edwin Osgood Grover

                                      

                   Santa Claus otherwise known as saint Nicholas or Kris Kringle has a long history steeped in Christmas traditions. Santa Claus is said to live at the North pole with his wife ,where he spends the year making toys with the help of elves. There he receives letters from children asking for gifts. On Christmas eve he loads his sleigh with toys and flies around the world ,drawn by eight reindeer, stopping at each child's house, he slides down the chimney and leaves the gifts, refreshing himself with the milk and cookies left for him by the household's children.  

                   Santa Claus is one of the most important characters during Christmas who has many legends associated with him. Santa Claus as we know today , is a combination of various legends. The basis for the Christian era Santa Claus is Bishop Nicholas who lived in the 4th century AD. Nicholas is believed to have been born  to a wealthy Christian family in Myra, which is now in modern Turkey. He was very kind person and his kindness and benevolence made him so popular that he soon became the Bishop of Myra. To ensure that the people were happy , he used to travel at night and listening to his people's conversation. During one such visit, he passed by a poor family's house and overheard the conversation between the family members. They were complaining about their misfortunes and were planning to sell all their three daughters as prostitutes or slaves. Nicholas could not stand that plight and threw three purses of gold , enough to get all three daughters married. It is believed that he threw the money through the chimney of their house. Over the years , Nicholas became popular for his deeds and came to be known as the protector of children. Nicholas came to be known as Santa Claus because of his Dutch nickname , Sintar Klaas. The current depiction of Santa Claus is based on images drawn by cartoonist Thomas Nast for Harper's Weekly beginning in 1863. Nast's Santa owed much to the description given in the poem ''A Visit from St. Nicholas'', first published in 1823. The image further defined by the popular Santa Claus advertisements created for the Coca-Cola company from 1931 by illustrator Haddon Sundblum. Sundblum's Santa was a portly white-bearded gentleman dressed in a red suit with a black belt and white fur trim ,black boots and a soft red cap.

         The chimney tradition is one of the most popular traditions associated with Santa Claus . It is believed that Saint Nicholas tossed coins through the window and when the window was locked he tossed them through the chimney. There are so many other legends relating to Santa Claus but the famous and most believed one is related to St. Nicholas. Santa Claus is a legendary Christmas character who has evolved through time ang has become an integral part of Christmas ,thus , adding more joy to the festival.