The Religious Sinulog

CEBU, Philippines – At the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño, candle vendors offer to dance the “sinulog” for customers. But their particular “sinulog” dance is quite different from the dance at the Sinulog festival. In other words, the prayer dance at the Basilica is not the same as the street dance.

The “sinulog” has an interesting story. It is said to have started as a pagan dance of worship. Oral history has it that, in the olden days, the tribesmen of Sugbu (the old name of Cebu) worshipped anything that they thought to hold supernatural powers.

The native Cebuanos of old reportedly believed that big rock formations, caves, big trees, rivers etc. were dwelling places of the gods.  And so they conducted prayer rituals in these places. They prayed for good harvest, good health, and victories in battles.

The abundant Pahina River, towards the southern side of the central plains, was one of those spots venerated by the natives. They would offer a part of their best crops to the gods there. They probably also slaughtered animals during those ceremonies.

Since the worship events were also celebrations, there was also tribal dancing. In order to please the gods even more, the dancers would imitate the movement of the water currents of the river. Water current in Cebuano is “sulog,” and the act of imitating it is to do a “sinulog.”

When the Spaniards came to colonize the islands, they also Christianized the native people. But the new converts would not let go of their traditional ways of worship. They tended to worship their new God according to their old ways.

The “sinulog” dance was brought to the Christian church. It was an issue with the friars at the start. The dancing was not allowed inside the church. But it was alright for “sinulog” dancers to perform the dance outside, in the church yard.

To this day, the prayer dance is still performed at the front yard of the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño. People contract the services of candle vendors to dance the “sinulog” in their behalf. Their petitions vary from good health, success in careers, harmony in relationships etc.

The street dancing in the Sinulog festival is loosely patterned after the original prayer dance. It, however, follows a standard footwork – “two steps forward, one step backward.”  The dance here is choreographed, unlike the spontaneous movement of the original dance.

There have recently been complaints that the Sinulog festival has become too commercialized since its inception in 1981. But defenders of the festival argue that the “Sinulog” in the streets is a secular celebration that has a character of its own apart from the worship dance. And yet, the great majority of people don’t quite distinguish between the two.