7,107 islands
there is in the Philippines and a thousand of reasons why we love and are proud
being citizens of this country. We may be divided with our ethnicity yet we are
united with the same desire when it comes to our religious beliefs. One of the
highlights, or shall we say it is already on our veins, to have numerous,
boastful, colorful and graceful festivals.
One of the
country’s colorful events and my personal favorite is the Pintados-
Kasadya-an Festival of my birthplace, Leyte. The term pintados refer to the
pagan warriors with body paint or tattoos. The pintados were the first inhabitants of
the Visayan Region and were notable with their colorful and artistic body
paintings, which are reflections of their courage and status as warriors. The
early Spanish settlers were fascinated by the warriors’ colorful tattoos and
decided to preserve the old pagan festival and combined with the feast of their
patron Saint, Sto. Nino.
The Pintados
Festival, and now called Pintados-Kasadya-an Festival, is celebrated every 29th
of June. The highlight of the celebration is the showcase of cultural dances,
participated by dancers, from different municipalities of Leyte, with painted
bodies. The dances portray the way of life of the ancient pagans and warriors. Here, the people gathered on the street to
take photos and videos of the colorful dancers and floats. Oftentimes, viewers
and tourists participate in the festivity by painting their own faces and arms
and dance along with the street dancers. The combination of two festivals; the
Feast of Sto. Nino de Tacloban and the Pintados Festival,which is very rare,
makes the occasion a grand event for this province.
What is unique
with the Pintados- Kasadya-an Festival is that it roots back to the Filipinos
old pagan religion and our shift to Christianity. Isn't it nice to look back
why and how our ancestors celebrated and how we are amaze that we are able to
continue what we inherited from them? It is really mesmerizing acquiring deeper
information with our festivals and I’m looking forward on our next blogs we’ll
get to know more about other religious celebrations on our country.
By: KRVeloso
References:
Wikipedia
Philippine
Country Links
