The two CDs of Kapampangan songs recorded by Arti Sta. Rita, Kapampangan Ku and Pamanuli can now be purchased online. Price for each CD is $15 including shipping costs. E-mail
for payment options and your mailing address. Orders shall be shipped on the next working day.
Apparel with the Duman Festival poster and other designs are online on the Azotea Shop. Proceeds will help fund the next Duman Festival activities. Read details with photos.
This You've Got to See!
Written by Karen S.
Friday, 20 January 2006
Duman season is over but we have not yet exhausted our material for all the effort we exerted in documenting this cultural and culinary treasure. From what Ms. David and I put together, it is apparent that pounding the grains is one of the most physically taxing steps in producing duman. It entails power and endurance. What is left unsaid is that it also requires rhythm. Grace seems to proceed naturally from it.
When I was working on the documentation for the Duman Festival last November, I knew that words would not be enough to express the wonder of seeing the babayu. As I mentioned in another site, the sound alone evoked so many images. Drums? Horses prancing?
Pascu na! Pascu na! Pascu na!
Pibalebale linisan
Pati eran isisan
Simbang bengi mentra na.
Ding campana cacalembang la
Qng galingaldo marimla,
Ban migising ca’t samba
Pisamban nang Sta. Rita.
Pisamban mipmu yang sampaga,
Aranias macasindi la,
Tiple cacanta la,
Tau manenaya qng Santa Misa.
Casampat at casayang panenayan
Ing pangabait ning Mengabus quecatamu ngan,
Caladua at bie quecatang linisan,
Ban miras banua quecatamung pupuntalan.
Lele ning pisamban magtinda dacal la,
Calame, tamales, suman at empanada,
Puto at cutsinta, puto seco at bibingka,
Carin ding tau milupung-lupung mipapagsalita.
Meyari na ing Santa Misa,
Cuwitis pepacbung na la,
Nung misan maqui mosicus pa,
Lumibut carin cabalenan Sta. Rita.
Cabalen at cacaluguran emu cacalinguan,
Ing quecatang pagselebran at panenayan,
Y Jesus Mengabus quecatamu ngan,
Ing quebaitan na ca Pascuan.
Duman could be anywhere from four to five centuries old. The earliest known mention of the rare green rice in church archives dates back to the 1600’s. It may have existed way before an old friar, enjoying the precious cereal with a pot of Chocolate E, wrote home about it from his refectory somewhere in ancient Las Yslas Filipinas.
Regardless of its origins, lost in the mists of history, Duman eminently qualifies as tradition, its raising and production preserved through the ages like liturgy and rubrics.
In old Sta. Monica, “paroba” from the main church of Sta. Rita town, the tradition of duman lives, the fires of its roasting “yanga” kept burning by devotees in the mold of Noel “Nova” Martin, Aida Galang, etc., prime players in the arcane art of Duman alchemy.
For December alone, we have seen an upsurge in visitors to this site. On the left are the top 19 countries from which our visitors come from. We are very surprised to have regular readers from Togo, Brazil, Senegal and India. But then again, Filipinos are everywhere.
Much as we enjoy writing about our activities and events in our hometown, we would also appreciate hearing from you. Please let us know how you found our website. You can use the commenting system on specific articles by clicking on "Read more..." to let us know what you think.
To queries about website features such as a photo gallery and other elements, those are in the plans albeit slowly implemented. Just like any Arti endeavor that relies on talent, this website operates on donated webspace, technical skills and the volunteers' sheer willpower alone. At the moment, we're thankful enough to be online with new material on a regular basis.
If you wish to contribute content to our site, you are very welcome. E-mail us and we'll try to accomodate you as much as we can.
It would probably take an ordinary individual more than a hundred years to significantly contribute to the development of culture. Those in culturally-oriented careers consider theirs as thankless jobs the effects of which may not be evident within their lifetime. Recy Pineda is very fortunate however because she sees the fruits of her labor even while at the prime of her life.
As the Department of Education’s (Pampanga) Supervisor I for Music and Art, what has come to the fore is her dedication and thoroughness in research with the culmination in 2000 of The Philippines in 100 Years. The project showcased the highlights of Philippine arts and culture from Spanish times and gave due recognition to native arts and other literary forms, Kapampangan most especially. Different literary genres such as Crissotan and sapatya were revived and institutionalized in schools such that they have become pop culture among schoolchildren.
But what has been highly praised in public has had its roots in an annual Pampanga Day project she has conceptualized in the 1980s. Each year, research is done to find songs and other traditional art forms to be presented in the province’s Pampanga in Song, Dance and Rhyme. This has now borne fruit as sapatya, basulto, poesia, traditional dances, among others, have become popular within the province, giving way to regular inter-school competitions among students, teachers and even during the Sinukuan Festival.
For December alone, we have seen an upsurge in visitors to this site. On the left are the top 19 countries from which our visitors come from. We are very surprised to have regular readers from Togo, Brazil, Senegal and India. But then again, Filipinos are everywhere.
