PowerPoint Presentation

[Audio] "Tambilaw at Tabang” Palawans pride By: Klenz Fernando.

[Audio] The annual celebration of tambilaw at lungsud is held for the fertility of the earth, the harmony of the world, the freedom of rice plants from pests and other diseases, good weather and climate conditions, and the regular alternation of heat and rain. As the oral, ritual performance takes place, a very complex dialogue develops between the shaman and the malevolent ones..

[Audio] Tambilaw at tabang is a generous sharing of food and rice wine for the restoration of a patient’s health. It is also a very important ritual for restoring balance in nature during the annual cycle. After a prey such as a boar, bird, or fish, has been caught, there are many brief rituals expressing a way of reciprocating such gifts to the benevolent ones. Rituals of birth and death are rather simple and are mainly intended to protect the living during these delicate moments of passage to another realm..

[Audio] At the end of December, when the last variety of rice has been harvested in the highlands, a ritual feast, tamway at Ampu at Paray (commemoration of the Master of Rice) is celebrated. It closes an annual cycle and opens a new one. It consists of a drinking ceremony of tinapay or tabad (rice wine) among relatives. To the accompaniment of the basal (gong ensemble), a jar is prepared several weeks in advance..

[Audio] It is believed that the Master of Rice will give a stronger and more fragrant beverage in return for the pleasure that the percussion music gives. The wife of the host makes the purad (yeast). The host, who is the master of the jar, makes the rice wine by first pouring water into the jar containing the rice. He adds sugarcane leaves and gives these a quick swirl before letting these float to the surface to keep the mixture down..

[Audio] That evening, after everyone has entered the keleng benwa, the host proclaims a warning against violent behavior among the guests. Anyone who responds to the violent acts of a drunken person will be fined. The ritual feast begins when portions of plain, cooked rice on leaves are given to the guests if the harvest has been good. The main gift, however, is the tinapay, and the drinking lasts until dawn..

[Audio] As the drinking starts in earnest, karang at siburan (jar songs) are performed. The elegant and moving timpasan, the invocation to the Master of Rice is sung either by the host only, or alternately by the host and one of his guests. It is sung to invite Ampu to watch over the ceremony during the whole night.

[Audio] Then the men take turns singing the old jar songs: kandiri, aridi, sudsud, and the more recent ones, lantigi and yaya. The women sing, too, as they come to the jar in pairs and take a sip of the wine through the bamboo straw..

[Audio] eanwhile, everyone talks, chews, or smokes in the flickering light of the fragrant salang (resin torches). Because of paribasa and improvised songs, the guests are gradually taken over by togetherness, solidarity, and a shared joy. This ceremony is the time for sangdugu (blood pact), which forever seals the exclusive, affectionate ties between two persons..

[Audio] THANK YOU. THANK YOU.