TABUK CITY, Kalinga (PIA) – The province of Kalinga’s 30th Founding Anniversary and 6th Bodong Festival kicked off on Monday (Feb. 3), at the Capitol grounds with the ayug, a timeless echo of Kalinga culture.
As part of the ayug, a pig was butchered, and elders performed the alisig, a ritual that asks the ancestors for healing.
Traditional oral chanters and ritual presenters also performed the ayug mambayu (pounding of rice), uwawi (lullaby) accompanied by traditional instruments such as tungatong and tungali, and chanting of uggayam, paliwat, and kullilipan.
This year’s theme, “Rooted in Culture, United in Progress: LUMIN-AWA Kalinga!” reflects Kalinga’s steadfast pursuit for progress while remaining deeply connected to their heritage.”
“The wide roads, bridges, hospitals, schools, and other essential infrastructures we see today are concrete testaments to the progress we’ve collectively achieved. However, above these physical developments, it is our unity that made this achievement possible. No divided community can achieve great things, which is why the celebration is also a call to strengthen our love for and commitment to our cultural heritage,” Governor James Edduba said.
The festival runs until Feb. 23 with various activities.
The opening of the “Kalinga Treasures Fair” will be on Feb. 7, and the “Bodong Agro Fair and Pasil Slow Food” on Feb. 10.
Major events such as the “Bodong Street Dance”, “Drum and Lyre Competition”, and “Ms. Kalinga 2025 Coronation Night” will be held on Feb. 14 at the Kalinga Sports Complex and Kalinga Sports Center.
The highlight of the festival, which is the “Digdiga” will be on Feb. 12 at the Kalinga Sports Center.
The Digdiga is an authentic cultural showcase of Kalinga, bringing to life the province’s rich performing arts. It will highlight Kalinga’s indigenous attire, traditional dances, soulful chants, indigenous musical instruments, and celebratory rituals rooted in the essence of the bodong system.
It will be recalled that the 4th Bodong Festival in 2023 which highlight was the “Awong chi Gangsa”(A call of a thousand gongs) and “Agtu’n chi Banga”( Dance of a thousand pots) earned for Kalinga the Guinness Book of World Records for the Largest Gong Ensemble composed of 3,440 male gong beaters , and the Largest Banga(pot) Dance with 4,681 female banga dancers. (JDP/RGA- PIA CAR, Kalinga)
