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With this selection of the hermanas cargadoras, the women who carry the smaller floats of the Virgin Mary or other virgins for the matter we conclude our coverage of Lent and Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala. Our gratitude and huge round of applause goes to Nelo Mijangos who goes the extra mile, literally, to bring us one of a kind imagery with fresh and unusual perspectives.
Take a photographic tour through all the photos, posts and multimedia content published about Lent and the Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala:
In many places of Guatemala on Holy Saturday an effigy of Judas Iscariote is burned. For those who don’t know who Juda Escariot was, according to the New Testament, he was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. He is infamously known for his kiss and betrayal of Jesus to the hands of the chief Sanhedrin priests in exchange for a payment of thirty silver coins.
In Guatemala where just about everyone is a pyromaniac, Holy Saturday provides yet another opportunity to burn something, in this case the image of Judas Iscariot, but not before reading aloud his will where he tells on many of the neighbours. The figure is placed on a public place many members of the community get together for the reading of his testament and burning, which in this case was the village of San Gaspar Vivar at 6pm.
Aside: I was asked by the organizer, a humble old man, if I could fix the tie as it seemed no one knew how to tie a necktie in this neighbourhood. Of course, neither did I.
With this gallery of Semana Santa photos from Antigua Guatemala, Nelo Mijangos shares with us an overview of the many vistas one can expect while following a procession in Antigua Guatemala. For instance, the picture above gives us an idea of the length of the float and how many cucuruchos carry it. Below, we can see that cucuruchos come together in all ages to express their devotion; we get to look at the different figures on top of the floats inside the churches as well as outside; further, we see the different costumes wore during the enactment of the crucifixion, including the Romans with their torches; we get to see the huge crowds as well as the all the people working together to create the world-famous Holy Week alfombras (carpets) from Antigua Guatemala.
In my opinion, Nelo has done an outstanding job bringing to us all the haunting and awe-inspiring imagery of the world-famous Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala, don’t you agree?
These photographs belong to the procession of Santuario de San Francisco El Grande. Nelo explains that the two wood rods that stick out at the front of the float, andarilla he calls it, are called timonen (steering) and are the responsible for the rhythm and direction of the procession.
If you have any questions about the Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala, please, leave them in the comments!
Velaciones, vigils, are a very important tradition during Lent and Holy Week in Antigua Guatemala. Velaciones are altars or shrines made for the catholic figures that later on will be on top of the floats, andas in Guatemalan Spanish, which are the nucleus of the processions. Even though I recently shared with you an entire series on the Lent food found outside the velaciones, it’s only until now that I share with you a couple of images of vigil. The velación shown here was set up inside La Merced church.
If you have any questions about velaciones, please, leave them on the comments and I will do my best to get the correct answers as soon as possible.
As I have mentioned before, Lent and Semana Santa is an equal-opportunity tradition. As you can see here, even little girls get a chance to carry a float, small, but still their float. By the way, the male carriers are called cucuruchos and the female carriers are known as hermanas cargadoras.
I call the little girls, niñas cargadoras; who knows what’s the proper name for the little girls who carry the float?
As I mentioned yesterday, there will be Lent and Holy Week celebrations in Antigua Guatemala for a long while. These religious traditions are being passed on to the very young. Here we see young cucuruchos, bearers, as they carried the small float from the Cathedral. I recorded a small video clip with the iPhone to give you an idea of the sounds and feel of the small processions.
If you had the opportunity, would you wear a robe and carry one of the floats?
I look at your site every day. Your pictures are how I fell in love with Guatemala. I have learned so much about your country, the people and customs from you. I love each and every picture, comment and ESPECIALLY the politics... —Catherine
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