Some Customs and traditions of Guanajuato Are some important dates, clothes, dances and gastronomic dishes very typical of Guanajuato.
Their customs and traditions surpass the seven that we will mention, however, these are the most popular and constitute a fundamental part of their identity.
Guanajuato, Mexico
Guanajuato is one of the 32 states that make up the United States of Mexico. It is formed by 46 municipalities and its capital is the Colonial city of Guanajuato, declared Cultural Patrimony of the Humanity (Government of the State of Guanajuato, 2017). The most populous city in the state is Leon.
It is located in the center of the Mexican Republic and limits to the north with the state of San Luis de Potosi to the north, Michoacan to the south, the west to Jalisco and the east to Queretaro.
Its geographical position makes it have a semi-dry, temperate and semi-warm climate. It has two hydrological basins that irrigate the State that are Lerma Santiago and Panuco-Tamesí.
Main customs and traditions of Guanajuato
The most representative traditions and customs of the State of Guanajuato are strongly linked to religious celebrations of some saint and include some gastronomic dishes representative of the region.
On the other hand, each city and municipality has its own celebrations.
1- Dolores's Friday
It is celebrated the last Friday of Lent before Easter in honor of the Virgin of Dolores, patron of the miners.
That day commemorate the 7 pains that the Virgin Mary lived during the passion and death of her son Jesus Christ (Quanaxhuato, 2017).
Altars are lined with flowers and lighted candles, and water or snow (ice-cream) is given, symbolizing Mary's tears (Quanaxhuato, 2017). It is customary to give flowers to women.
It is believed that this custom originated in the seventeenth century on the initiative of the Franciscan brothers, who at Easter raised altars in their honor in the streets and outside hospitals.
2- Celebration of Holy Week
Between the end of March and the beginning of April, the worldwide Christian community commemorates the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus.
Mexico, the country with the largest number of Catholics in the world, remembers this date with deep devotion and faith.
Guanajuato is not the exception to the rule and the diverse eucaristías swarm during the season. Holy Thursday is the"visit to the seven temples"or"visit to the seven altars,"an analogy to the seventh stays that Jesus went through on the day of his trial.
It is common since then to visit seven temples, all of them are full of flowers, crucifixes and other decoration for the occasion.
On Good Friday the Viacrucis is made and representations of the different scenes of Jesus are made on the way to Calvary.
A typical adaptation of the Guanajuato people to the procession is La Judea, a popular theater movement with religious and religious content, inherited by Hermenegildo Bustos (Guanajuato Tourism Secretariat, 2017).
According to the dramatization, the Jews seek to re-capture and kill Jesus at the expense of Judas Iscariot.
3- Opening of San Juan and Presa de la Olla
It is an artistic and cultural event that takes place on the first Monday of the month of July. The celebration arose in the 18th century, in 1749 when the Olla de la Olla was finished and because of a lack of pipes or filters, it had to open the dam for the river to bring fresh water.
Over time, bridges and roads were built so that people could appreciate the event in a more comfortable way and it was added music, food, games of chance, corridos, among other things, including the beauty contest that crowns the queen from the city.
With regard to"San Juan", before the dam used to commemorate the birth of Juan Bautista (from June 24), although he had no temple erected.
Consequently, after the construction of the dam, they decided to join the two celebrations for their chronological closeness and because finally John Baptist is remembered for baptizing Christ in the waters of the Jordan, waters of the channel of the river that also ran for the same dates in Guanajuato.
4- Dance of Paloteros
It is a pre-Hispanic dance whose origin is not clear if it is due to the Piñícuaros or the Puruanders.
In any case, this dance adopts its peculiarities in each one of the groups, although the synopsis is the same one: it scenes the offering to the Sun and Moon deities to help them in their battles after the Spanish conquest, aid in the harvests and the process of miscegenation.
This dance emphasizes the soft movements and cadences of martial type, opposite to the other dances of Spanish influence with its distinctive zapateo or abrupt twists. Their dancers, always men, are distinguished by wearing a pair of knee-length shorts with colored vertical lines.
5- Dance of the Torito
It is a traditional dance representative of the municipalities of Guanajuato, Silao and Romita that was born in 1837 around a history apparently happened in the Hacienda of Chichimellas.
According to tradition, at a party a small bull escapes from the corral and begins to cause dread among people. The owner of the Hacienda rides his horse, trying to catch him and failing in his company, the other guests to the party try to catch him.
The characters of the dance are: The charro, the caporal, the maringuia, the drunk, the hunchback, the trip, the devil and the death and the apache.
His music and movements are joyful and contagious.
6- Anniversary of the Day of the Alhondiga de Granaditas
It is a civil commemoration held on September 28 of each year. It recalls the heroic feat of 1810 in which the insurgent army led by the priest Miguel Hidalgo and Castile faces the realists (Spaniards) and robs them of the dominion of Alhóndiga de Granaditas giving beginning to the independence struggle of Mexico.
A civic military parade is offered in which schools, police forces and the 46 town councils that constitute the state participate
7- Dress of the"Galanteña"
It was an everyday clothing a few centuries ago and today is a folk costume that represents the Guanajuato woman.
It consists of three colorful layers of skirts of cut A, superimposed of different details and they went from the waist. The first and second layers were for domestic use and the third layer used when they were going to leave.
The female back is covered by a white blouse with a square neckline embroidered like the short sleeves.
Dressed necklaces and eye-catching earrings adorned the dress, scarves, bracelets, bows and sophisticated braids. He carried a wooden pan in which he deposited the pieces of stone where the metal lay.
It is called"Galareña"because the women used this outfit to accompany their husbands and older children to their work in the galleys, outside the mines.
References
- Guanajuato state government. (24 of 7 of 2017). Know our status . Obtained from Government of the State of Guanajuato: guanajuato.gob.mx.
- Guanajuato state government. (24 of 7 of 2017). Typical dress . Obtained from Government of the State of Guanajuato: guanajuato.gob.mx.
- Jimenez Gonzalez, V. M. (24 of 7 of 2017). Guanajuato. Mexico in your pocket. Retrieved from Google Books: books.google.com.
- Mexico Unknown. (24 of 7 of 2017). Assault and capture of the Alhóndiga de Granaditas, Guanajuato . Obtained from Mexico Unknown: mexicodesconocido.com.mx.
- Quanaxhuato. (24 of 7 of 2017). Festivities of San Juan and Presa de la Olla . Obtained from Quanaxhuato. Events, culture and fun in Guanajuato: quanaxhuato.com.
- Quanaxhuato. (24 of 7 of 2017). Easter . Obtained from Quanaxhuato. Events, culture and fun in Guanajuato capital: quanaxhuato.com.
- Quanaxhuato. (24 of 7 of 2017). Friday of pain . Obtained from Quanaxhuato. Events, culture and fun of Guanajuato capital: quanaxhuato.com.
- Ministry of Tourism of Guanajuato. (24 of 7 of 2017). "La Judea"a tradition of Holy Week in Guanajuato . Retrieved from the Secretariat of Tourism of Guanajuato: sectur.guanajuato.gob.mx.