Along time ago Luciano Toala was taking a walk through the town of Suchiapa when suddenly he heard some music. He wanted to know where it was coming from so he followed the sound until he got to a place inside a tree where he found a honeycomb where the bees were dancing around, he couldn’t believe his eyes so he run and got the people from the village, when everyone came back they found a deer a snake and a tiger worshiping the honeycomb.
Now a day Suchiapa celebrates this event and it has become a tradition that the people from the town celebrate year after year.
The dance started in the prehispanic times, it’s interpreted during the festivities of Corpus Christi (the altar’s holy sacrament) In this dance you will find the deer (Calala), the giant snake, the little giant as well as tigers, and chamulas (locals), these people have their faces covered in a special makeup called tizane. You will also find the queens (that go around the honeycomb). Everyone that participates in this dance take offerings to the Holy Sacred of Confradia.
Everything starts on a Tuesday morning and goes on till the next Thursday with the Tiger’s exit to Nambusheli. The tiger is the one that keeps who goes in and out of the Holy saint. The tiger goes around the Santa Anita church, the cemetery of the forgiving cross, the San Esteban church, and the last point it visits is the Confraida where you will find the Holy Saint. Throughout the tour along with the tiger goes a person playing his whistle announcing each one of the places they visit.
In this dance you will see musicians, people playing the drums, flute, some other instruments. They play about 30 different melodies o “mysteries” one of them called “El chapulin” and it’s only played in Suchiapa when it rains. The surimba tradition will take you back to a time of stories and legends.
Take advantage of your visit to Chiapas and visit this beautiful town.
DATES: June 5th through the 10th FREE ADMISION
HOW TO GET THERE Take the road to Villaflores to the km 16 from Tuxtla
WE SUGGEST YOU TO WEAR Comfortable clothing and shoes, sun block. Remember that on June fifth the festivities start at 12:00 am so you need to get ready for a long night and day full of tradition and magic.
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