Mexico, Tenancingo Degollado, : Domingo de Los Ramos Tenancingo

Monday, March 21, 2016

This is an exhuberant festival. It is a procession from the church called El Huerto to La Parroquia, a distance of about 5 blocks. Palms are the ticket, and exhuberance is the mood. A heavy wooden statue of Jesus is heaved upon the shoulders of some willing men to commemorate Jesus's return to Jerusalem after 40 days of fasting and contemplation in the desert. It was his last triumph for in 5 days hence he would be crucified.
Each year women and men come from Zumpahuacan and line a corridor near the Parroquia weaving and selling their palms mixed with fresh flowers and rosemary. The palms and flowers illuminate the mood. The colorful procession quickens the flesh, and rekindles the stubborn human religious spirit. Thousands of supple fresh palms, each woven differently, are all raised in the air in welcome, evoking renaissance, disavowing the last arid months and honoring spring.