photo credits: paintings by Cebu Artist, Manuel Panares -www.panarescollections.weebly.com
Sinulog is an annual festival or fiesta in the province of Cebu in the Southern Philippines held on the 3rd Sunday of January. This is as far as most Filipinos and non Cebuanos know about this particular fiesta and street party.
So what does the words SINULOG and PIT SENYOR mean?
The term SINULOG comes from the word “Sulog” or “Sug” (most Cebuanos prefer shortcuts for most words e.g. balay (house) in short Cebuano is “bay”. Sulog means water current – the movement of water or a wave that moves forward and backward as in the rhythmic movement of the Sinulog dance which goes 1 step forward and 2 steps backward (as in the Chacha dance which goes only one step forward and 1 step backward) Can you visualise the Sinulog dance now? The Sinulog dance is a prayer dance most often seen and performed by candle vendors outside the Basilica Minor del Santo Nino in Cebu. When you visit the church you can buy a candle from one of the vendors who if you so wish would use the candles to dance the Sinulog in honour of your particular intention or prayer request to the Santo Nino. If you have your own statue of the Santo Nino you can also dance with it by holding it high over your head and go one step forward and two steps backward and perhaps a twirl. This is why when you dance the Sinulog on the streets it takes forever to get to the finish line –(haha!) imagine going 1 step forward and 2 steps back!
Now the word ‘Pit” in “Pit Senyor” is a shortcut of the word “Sangpit” which means to “ to plea” or pleading or calling the Santo Nino to grant your prayer request. So in essence when a person exclaims Pit Senyor he or she is calling or pleading to the Santo Nino to please grant a prayer request for yourself, your relatives and friends so it goes “ Pit Senyor kang Nanay kini “ or “Pit Senyor kang Maria kini! and so on. The hand movement symbolises "Sangpit" or 'Pit" - like when you call someone you wave your hand to that person to catch their attention.
Happy Fiesta everyone and PIT SENYOR!
So what does the words SINULOG and PIT SENYOR mean?
The term SINULOG comes from the word “Sulog” or “Sug” (most Cebuanos prefer shortcuts for most words e.g. balay (house) in short Cebuano is “bay”. Sulog means water current – the movement of water or a wave that moves forward and backward as in the rhythmic movement of the Sinulog dance which goes 1 step forward and 2 steps backward (as in the Chacha dance which goes only one step forward and 1 step backward) Can you visualise the Sinulog dance now? The Sinulog dance is a prayer dance most often seen and performed by candle vendors outside the Basilica Minor del Santo Nino in Cebu. When you visit the church you can buy a candle from one of the vendors who if you so wish would use the candles to dance the Sinulog in honour of your particular intention or prayer request to the Santo Nino. If you have your own statue of the Santo Nino you can also dance with it by holding it high over your head and go one step forward and two steps backward and perhaps a twirl. This is why when you dance the Sinulog on the streets it takes forever to get to the finish line –(haha!) imagine going 1 step forward and 2 steps back!
Now the word ‘Pit” in “Pit Senyor” is a shortcut of the word “Sangpit” which means to “ to plea” or pleading or calling the Santo Nino to grant your prayer request. So in essence when a person exclaims Pit Senyor he or she is calling or pleading to the Santo Nino to please grant a prayer request for yourself, your relatives and friends so it goes “ Pit Senyor kang Nanay kini “ or “Pit Senyor kang Maria kini! and so on. The hand movement symbolises "Sangpit" or 'Pit" - like when you call someone you wave your hand to that person to catch their attention.
Happy Fiesta everyone and PIT SENYOR!
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