Conquer Asia

There are a lot of ways to celebrate Christmas. In every country, there are significant objects that are used to represent the Birth of Jesus Christ. In the Philippines, parol is an ornamental star-shaped Christmas lantern used to signify the star upon the nativity of Jesus Christ. It is also used to symbolize the victory of light against the darkness.

The Christmas parol is traditionally made of bamboo and paper which comes in different sized, shapes and designs. Its name is derived from the Spanish word farolwhich simply means “lantern” or ilanwan in the Tagalo language. There are various designs created of the parol by the Filipinos. These designs include the face of Santa Claus, angels, reindeer, big flowers, happy faces and Christmas trees.

In the country, the parol became an iconic symbol of Christmas. It is often associated with Simbang Gabi which is a series of nine dawn masses. The parols remain until January and are often removed in the sixth day of January in honor of the “Three Kings.”

[/tags] parol, philippines, attraction [/tags]