Why is Easter associated with bunnies and eggs?

Easter has been around for centuries and to Christians, Easter is the most important holiday of the year. It is the culmination of the religious season of Lent and the day on which the Christians celebrate the resurrection Of Jesus. Easter is also a popular secular holiday, thanks to its association with the Easter bunny, colourful decorative eggs, and lots of candy. However, many Easter traditions are not found in the Bible. According to a popular theory, early Christians adopted Easter from a Pagan festival celebrating EOSTRE, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of Spring and Fertility. The goddess consorted with a hare which, as the theory goes, was the original inspiration for today's Easter bunny but there is little evidence to prove it. According to the Bible, Jesus was resurrected and came back to life on Easter. On this day, Christians celebrate and spend time in the church and may get together with friends and family and share a meal.

Although the Bible makes no mention of a rabbit, the Easter bunny is the most secular symbol of this holiday. Rabbits are an ancient symbol of fertility and new life, two ideas which are strongly associated with spring and with Easter. The connection between rabbits and Easter arose in the 17th century and was introduced to the Americans later by German immigrants. The German's also introduced their tradition of an egg-laying hare called 'Oschter Haws'. The festival became favourite among the kids as they made nests for the Easter bunny to lay the colourful and decorated eggs. Eventually, the tradition spread across the U.S. where children often left carrots for the rabbit in case he got hungry from all the jumping around and enjoyed Easter egg hunt as a part of the festival.

Decorating the eggs is one of the oldest Easter customs. The concept of Easter eggs comes from Pagan traditions. The eggs are a symbol of fertility and renewal but they are associated with this festival for a practical reason. For centuries, the Christian church banned eggs along with other food items such as meat, wine, cheese and milk during Lent which became a special delight to eat again on Easter. Lent is a period of fasting, penance, repentance of sins and self-denial which ends approximated six weeks later, before Easter. So while no one could eat eggs, they decorated and painted the eggs to mark the end of the period of penance and fasting.

While delicious foods and decorated eggs are a way to celebrate this festival, chocolates and candies play an important role for the kids. As eggs have been long associated with the festival, chocolate eggs became the most popular delicacy on Easter and kids just loved it. Hence, making it a popular tradition on Easter.