•2:36 PM
[ We are now celebrating the Sinulog Festival here in Cebu City. The celebration starts today, January 12, and it will end on January 20, 2008. The highlights of the celebration would include the Fluvial Procession, the Sinulog Dance Competition, the street dancing competition, etc.. These are done in honor of the child Jesus or the Sto. Nino.]
The Sinulog festival is one of the grandest and most colorful festivals in the Philippines. The main festival is held each year on the third Sunday of January in Cebu City to honor the Santo Niño, or the child Jesus, who used to be the patron saint of the whole province of Cebu (since in the Catholic faith Jesus is not a saint, but God). It is essentially a dance ritual that remembers the Filipino people's pagan past and their acceptance of Christianity.
The festival features some the country's most colorful displays of pomp and pageantry: participants garbed in bright-colored costumes dance to the rhythm of drums, trumpets, and native gongs. The streets are usually lined with vendors and pedestrians all wanting to witness the street-dancing. Smaller versions of the festival are also held in various parts of the province, also to celebrate and honor the Santo Niño. There is also a Sinulog sa Kabataan, which is performed by the youths of Cebu a week before the Grand Parade.
Recently, the cultural event has been commercialized as a tourist attraction and instead of traditional street-dancing from locals, Sinulog also came to mean a contest featuring contingents from various parts of the country. The Sinulog Contest is traditionally held in the Cebu City Sports Complex, where most of Cebu's major provincial events are held.
The festival features some the country's most colorful displays of pomp and pageantry: participants garbed in bright-colored costumes dance to the rhythm of drums, trumpets, and native gongs. The streets are usually lined with vendors and pedestrians all wanting to witness the street-dancing. Smaller versions of the festival are also held in various parts of the province, also to celebrate and honor the Santo Niño. There is also a Sinulog sa Kabataan, which is performed by the youths of Cebu a week before the Grand Parade.
Recently, the cultural event has been commercialized as a tourist attraction and instead of traditional street-dancing from locals, Sinulog also came to mean a contest featuring contingents from various parts of the country. The Sinulog Contest is traditionally held in the Cebu City Sports Complex, where most of Cebu's major provincial events are held.
The Festival
The celebration traditionally lasts for nine days, culminating on the ninth day when the Sinulog Grand Parade starts. The day before the parade, the Fluvial Procession, a water-parade, held at dawn from the Mandaue City to Cebu City with the Santo Niño carried on a pump boat decked with hundreds of flowers and candles. The procession ends at the Basilica where a re-enactment of the Christianizing of Cebu follows. In the afternoon, a more solemn procession takes place along the major streets of the city, which last for hours due to large crowd participating in the religious event.
On the feast day, at the Basilica, a Pontifical Mass is celebrated by the Cardinal with the assistance of several bishops of Cebu. The majority of the city’s population and devotees would flock to the Basilica to attend the mass before heading out to the streets to watch the Parade.
Background
'Sinulog' comes from the Cebuano adverb sulog which is "like water current movement," which adeptly describes the forward-backward movement of the Sinulog dance. Traditionally, the dance consists of two steps forward and one step backward, done to the sound of the drums. The dance is categorized into Sinulog-base, Free-Interpretation. Candle vendors at the Basilica continue to perform the traditional version of the dance when lighting a candle for the customer, usually accompanied by songs in the native language.
The Sinulog dance steps were believed to originate from Rajah Humabon's adviser, Baladhay. It was during Humabon's grief when Baladhay was driven sick. He then ordered his natives to bring Baladhay into a chapel where the Sto. Niño was enthroned. Moments later, surprisingly, Baldhay was heard shouting and was found dancing with outmost alertness. Baladhay was questioned as to whether why was he awake and was shouting. Baladhay explained that he found a small child, pointing to the image of the Sto. Niño, on top of him and trying to wake him up. He, at great astonishment, scared the child away by shouting but couldn't explain why he was dancing the movements of the river. Up to this day, the two-steps forward and the one-step backward movement dance is still used by the Sto. Niño devotees believing that it was the Sto. Niño's choice to have Baladhay dance what the holy child wants them to dance.
History
Pre-Spanish and the First Wave of Spaniards
Historians have noted that before the first Spaniards came to Cebu, the Sinulog was already danced by the natives in honor of their wooden idols called anitos. Then, on April 7, 1521, the Portuguese navigator, Fernando de Magallanes arrived and planted the cross on the shores of Cebu, claiming the territory in the name of the King of Spain. He then presented the image of the child Jesus, the Santo Niño, as baptismal gift to Hara Humamay, wife of Cebu's Rajah Humabon. Hara Humamay was later named, Queen Juana in honor of Juana, Carlos I's mother. Along with the rulers of the island, some 800 natives were also baptized to the Christian faith. At the moment of receiving the image, it was said that Queen Juana danced with joy bearing the image of the child Jesus. With the other natives following her example, this moment was regarded as the first Sinulog.
This event is frequently used as basis for most Sinulog dances, which dramatize the coming of the Spaniards and the presentation of the Santo Niño to the Queen. A popular theme among Sinulog dances is Queen Juana holding the Santo Niño in her arms and using it to bless her people who are often afflicted by sickness caused by demons and other evil spirits.
The Coming of Legazpi
After Magellan met his death on April 27, 1521 on the shores of Mactan (ruled by Muslim Rajah Lapu-Lapu), the remnants of his men returned to Spain. However, it took 44 years before the Spaniards achieved some measure of success in colonizing the islands and eventually the whole Philippines.
The conquistador, Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in Cebu on April 28, 1565 and destroyed the village ruled by Rajah Tupas. In one of the huts of the burning village, one of Legazpi's soldiers named Juan Camus found a wooden box containing the image of the Santo Niño lying amongst several native idols. Historians later said that during the 44 years between the coming of Magellan and Legazpi, the natives of Cebu continued to dance the Sinulog but no longer to worship their anitos but to show their reverence to the Santo Niño.
The Augustinian friars that accompanied Legazpi in his expedition proclaimed the statue miraculous and built a church on the site where it was found. The church was called San Agustin Church but was later renamed to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño.
The celebration traditionally lasts for nine days, culminating on the ninth day when the Sinulog Grand Parade starts. The day before the parade, the Fluvial Procession, a water-parade, held at dawn from the Mandaue City to Cebu City with the Santo Niño carried on a pump boat decked with hundreds of flowers and candles. The procession ends at the Basilica where a re-enactment of the Christianizing of Cebu follows. In the afternoon, a more solemn procession takes place along the major streets of the city, which last for hours due to large crowd participating in the religious event.
On the feast day, at the Basilica, a Pontifical Mass is celebrated by the Cardinal with the assistance of several bishops of Cebu. The majority of the city’s population and devotees would flock to the Basilica to attend the mass before heading out to the streets to watch the Parade.
Background
'Sinulog' comes from the Cebuano adverb sulog which is "like water current movement," which adeptly describes the forward-backward movement of the Sinulog dance. Traditionally, the dance consists of two steps forward and one step backward, done to the sound of the drums. The dance is categorized into Sinulog-base, Free-Interpretation. Candle vendors at the Basilica continue to perform the traditional version of the dance when lighting a candle for the customer, usually accompanied by songs in the native language.
The Sinulog dance steps were believed to originate from Rajah Humabon's adviser, Baladhay. It was during Humabon's grief when Baladhay was driven sick. He then ordered his natives to bring Baladhay into a chapel where the Sto. Niño was enthroned. Moments later, surprisingly, Baldhay was heard shouting and was found dancing with outmost alertness. Baladhay was questioned as to whether why was he awake and was shouting. Baladhay explained that he found a small child, pointing to the image of the Sto. Niño, on top of him and trying to wake him up. He, at great astonishment, scared the child away by shouting but couldn't explain why he was dancing the movements of the river. Up to this day, the two-steps forward and the one-step backward movement dance is still used by the Sto. Niño devotees believing that it was the Sto. Niño's choice to have Baladhay dance what the holy child wants them to dance.
History
Pre-Spanish and the First Wave of Spaniards
Historians have noted that before the first Spaniards came to Cebu, the Sinulog was already danced by the natives in honor of their wooden idols called anitos. Then, on April 7, 1521, the Portuguese navigator, Fernando de Magallanes arrived and planted the cross on the shores of Cebu, claiming the territory in the name of the King of Spain. He then presented the image of the child Jesus, the Santo Niño, as baptismal gift to Hara Humamay, wife of Cebu's Rajah Humabon. Hara Humamay was later named, Queen Juana in honor of Juana, Carlos I's mother. Along with the rulers of the island, some 800 natives were also baptized to the Christian faith. At the moment of receiving the image, it was said that Queen Juana danced with joy bearing the image of the child Jesus. With the other natives following her example, this moment was regarded as the first Sinulog.
This event is frequently used as basis for most Sinulog dances, which dramatize the coming of the Spaniards and the presentation of the Santo Niño to the Queen. A popular theme among Sinulog dances is Queen Juana holding the Santo Niño in her arms and using it to bless her people who are often afflicted by sickness caused by demons and other evil spirits.
The Coming of Legazpi
After Magellan met his death on April 27, 1521 on the shores of Mactan (ruled by Muslim Rajah Lapu-Lapu), the remnants of his men returned to Spain. However, it took 44 years before the Spaniards achieved some measure of success in colonizing the islands and eventually the whole Philippines.
The conquistador, Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in Cebu on April 28, 1565 and destroyed the village ruled by Rajah Tupas. In one of the huts of the burning village, one of Legazpi's soldiers named Juan Camus found a wooden box containing the image of the Santo Niño lying amongst several native idols. Historians later said that during the 44 years between the coming of Magellan and Legazpi, the natives of Cebu continued to dance the Sinulog but no longer to worship their anitos but to show their reverence to the Santo Niño.
The Augustinian friars that accompanied Legazpi in his expedition proclaimed the statue miraculous and built a church on the site where it was found. The church was called San Agustin Church but was later renamed to the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño.
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