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Whirling
white, red, and green! Pulsating purple, blue, yellow, and
gold! Swirling triangles, circles, squares, pentagons, and
octagons! Twinkling rhythmically, twirling endlessly through
Christmas nights – this is the Philippine star lantern
called the parol.
The parol (from the Spanish “farol”) is the
country’s most ethnic and most graphic Christmas symbol.
As such, it is perhaps the Pasko ornament dearest to
Filipino hearts… and the most evocative of the fiesta
spirit of the season.
Nowhere else but along this country’s sidewalks can
one behold the unforgettable spectacle of parols on display.
Clusters and clusters of these lanterns for sale by the
hundreds hang side by side, row after row, layer upon layer.
When these are lit simultaneously, the inky blue skies of
December evenings become awash with their myriad colors so
that one feels transported into the vortex of a giant
kaleidoscope.
In the province of Pampanga, considered the lantern
capital of the Philippines, one can witness a Christmas Eve
festival of gigantic parols made of limitless range of
components: paper, wood, metal, glass, shells, beads, seeds,
hemp, feathers, leaves. As many as 50 craftsmen may be
required to construct one giant lantern that may weigh 1,000
kilos and measure 40 feet in diameter. To come ablaze with
thousands of bulbs, these parols are equipped with a safety
box and a 75 KVA generator, powerful enough to light up a
town. Not surprisingly, it takes a six-wheeler open truck to
transport such a Pampanga parol from place to place.
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