Thousands of believers walk to Colina Sagrada to thank Our Lord of Bonfim. Photo: Adenilson Nunes/Agecom
Perfume, little guitars, laces, ribbons and white bead collars. The ceramic vases with flowers and perfume go on top of the baianas’ heads. The tributes to Our Lord of Bonfim, patron saint of Bahia’s people, and to Oxalá, Candomblé’s deity that represents peace, harmony and love, happen under the sound of guitars, which have marked the rhythm of the washing of the church’s stairs and churchyard, at Colina Sagrada (Sacred Hill) since 1754.
On the second Thursday of January after Epiphany – this year it’s the 14th – thousands of believers dress in white and sing the hymn in honor of Our Lord of Bonfim. As usual, the religious syncretism is present and the sacred and profane blend to honor the Catholic saint and his correspondent in Candomblé, Oxalá, in Bahia’s most important religious festival. According to the historian Manuel Passos, “the beauty of Bonfim’s Festival is in the color, in that white corridor formed by the people that dress in Oxalá’s color and follow the cortege on foot.” The cortege leaves from Nossa Senhora da Conceição da Praia Church, in the Lower City, and goes up Bonfim’s Hill, in the famous eight kilometer journey.
While the sacred part of the festival is represented by the tributes to the patron saint, there are some parallel shows of local artists, besides presentations of philharmonics, capoeira groups, samba and other musical rhythm. This year, specially, a new cortege will leave from Nossa Senhora da Mãe de Deus Church, on January 14th, at 5:00pm, heading towards Bonfim Church, where it will go three times around the temple, before the 6:00pm mass. The innovation alludes to three knots that believers make in their Bonfim’s ribbons before making wishes.
The mixture of peoples, beliefs and cultures and the unique character of the festival also led to prohibitions and conflicts over the years. In 1889, the archbishop of Bahia, Dom Luis Antônio dos Santos, forbade believers to wash the interior part of the church. The intervention of the Civic Guard resulted in the apprehension of brooms and guitars and the festival only happened again ten years later. In 1940, the Archdiocese tried again to forbid people to wash the stairs, this time unsuccessfully. Since then the festival has happened every year.
Where: Leaving from Basílica da Conceição da Praia towards Colina Sagrada
When: January 14th, 2010
Time: from 9:00am
See the photos of Bonfim’s Festival in 2009:
