Lapu-Lapu, A Remarkable Filipino Festival - Recalls Roots and Traditions of Pre-Colonial Pristine Bygone Era

 Be it America or Asia, Europe, Australia or Africa, all the peoples of all the countries seem to be under the influence of an unfathomable spell that mysteriously pulls them towards their roots, towards their forefathers and their past traditions. Apparently, even unknowingly, this magnet is working its way. It is subtle, self-manifesting, unnoticeable yet compelling. They, so it seems, want to resurrect and reclaim the past that was viciously destroyed and buried deep and indeed, the effort has started, faintly though, to show up. The Lapu-Lapu festival of Filipinos is one such example.

World was shocked on 26th of April, 2025 with a news flash from Vancouver, BC. It was:

Presumably it was an unfortunate accident. The driver was said to be a mentally unstable person. The tragedy has nothing to do with the history of Lapu-Lapu, however it did bring into limelight the Filipino festival of Lapu-Lapu and what it meant for the ordinary folks. The festival keeps alive the pre-colonization society in the consciousness of the present day Filipinos.

Lapu-Lapu, seems almost an unthinkable festival for a country that is deeply Catholic Christian. This is mainly because, the person, LapuLapu, who is celebrated, was a person who resisted catholicism and successfully prevented its introduction into the Philippines for many decades.

The festival of Lapu-Lapu is celebrated everywhere in the world where the Filipinos have made their home but its main festivities take place in the city of Lapu-Lapu of Mactan Island, where the famous “Battle of Mactan” took place and where the celebrated sailor Ferdinand Magellan was killed on 27th April 1521. Young LapuLapu was an iconic community leader, lovingly and respectfully known as Datu (Chief) LapuLapu of Mactan island of the present day Philippines. He was born in 1490 and died at the age of 51, in 1541.

The Philippines is an archipelago made up of nearly 8000 small and big islands. Near the island of Mactan lies Cebu island, which is much bigger than Mactan. During the 16th century, Cebu island was ruled by a King, Rajah Humabon. He is credited to be the first Catholic Christian King of the Philippines. He was baptised in 1521 by a priest of the Spanish Expedition led by the celebrated Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan. Upon baptization, he adopted a new name, Carlos Valderrama. Some of his family and subjects too were baptised to catholicism. 

The islanders of Cebu have built a grand statue and memorial of Rajah Humabon who they considered to be a brave and wise king. And the islanders of Mactan have built a grand statue of their legendary warrior LapuLapu.

LapuLapu did not like the idea of his community being baptised under the force of new convert Rajah and his new accomplice, the Spanish armada. He resisted all the attempts at colonisation, subjugation and religious conversion. In a fiercely fought battle LapuLapu killed the captain of the armada, the Portuguese sailor Ferdinand Magellan. LapuLapu thwarted the Spanish and forced them to retreat. Perhaps, the defeat and unceremonious retreat of Spaniards and death of Ferdinand Magellan made Rajah Humabon reconsider continuing with friendly overtures towards fleeing Spaniards; he quickly renounced Catholicism, just within a few weeks after baptization, and returned to his own faith. The battered Spanish who had lost many soldiers and suffered the loss of some ships in the battle had to flee from the Philippines. They did not return till after five decades when they ultimately colonised the Philippines in 1565, converted the population to catholicism with vengeance and obliterated almost every sign of pre-existing culture. Spanish rule lasted for three long centuries till they were expelled by Americans in 1898. The Philippines then ended up as a United States Territory till they were ultimately granted full independence. While the Spanish were primarily focussed on economic exploitation and religious expansion, the Americans interests lie in the 

economic exploitation as well as strategic location of the islands. People of the Philippines fought and struggled for independence from America for many decades, to be ultimately granted full freedom on 4th July 1946. Interestingly, however, for the Philippines, their official independence day is not the 4th of July when Americans left but the 12th of June 1898, when they were freed from Spanish rule by the Americans. Clearly, Filipinos considered the Spanish as their real tormentors.  

The way Rajah Humabon, son of Rajah Sri Bantung, easily accepted Catholicism appears to be only a ploy to make friends with members of Spanish expedition. From whatever is known about the customs and beliefs of pre-colonized Filipinos, it can be assumed that Rajah was a pagan following some form of Indian religion. The presence of Sanskrit words like ‘Rajah’ and ‘Sri’ and a discovery of Laguna Copper-plate with inscriptions in the then prevalent Indian Pallava script supports this assumption. Perhaps it is the Indian influence that many words of Tagalog (language of Philippines) are uncannily the same or similar as what is used in Indian languages. 

As typical with most Spanish conquests, the traces of any older civilization in the colonies are usually completely and totally obliterated. That may be the reason why so little information is available today from the bygone era of the Philippines. However a chance discovery of a 2 kg, 21 Karat golden statue known as “Agusan Tara” reassures the Filipino community that their culture was rich and they were a civilized society at least older than 600 years before the first arrival of Europeans to their country. 

The fact that a deeply catholic society as Filipinos celebrates life and deeds of Lapu-Lapu, a warrior against catholicism speaks volumes of that mysterious and unfathomable human urge to have a relook and reconsider the heritage of one's forefathers. Knowingly or unknowingly it seems people gravitate towards exploring their past and even want to repossess what was stolen from their ancestors. This phenomena is in evidence also among first nations of Canada, among the pagans of Europe and Aboriginals of Australia. 

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Jadi Rana - A Kind Hindu King With Foresight

Holiest Fire Temple Temple of Parsis in India at Udvada, Gujarat.  (Photograph by Nilesh Shukla, Year 2025.)

Jadi Rana was a Hindu king of Sanjan in Gujarat. The Parsi Refugees had found safe asylum under him when they were forced to flee from their homeland, Persia (Iran) to save their life and religion from Islamic rulers in the 7th Century CE i.e. approximately 1300 years ago.

Most of us are aware of the famous milk and sugar story of Parsi refugees. True to that story, the Parsis have merged with the host society just as sugar dissolves in a cup full of milk. While their homogenous merging with host society and their successes are well  acknowledged, not many in India are aware that it was the Hindu King, Jadi Rana who had allowed the distressed and ensured their safe refuge in India. Perhaps, because it happened more than a thousand years ago and the fact that Indians are poor at history-writing and even poorer at self-praise, pretty little is known today about the king. 

However, some worthwhile information on the King is available from Parsi chronicles. The king’s knowledge of the factors that go to a successful merging of foreigners into local communities while still allowing everyone a full freedom to practice their own religion is a lesson to learn in itself. 

Parsis adopted Gujarati Language and Gujarati dress and yet maintained their unique identity complete with their religion, temples and traditions. They created successful business empires, established charities and have earned love and respect from the host society. This phenomenon of stress-free amalgamation is one of the rarest among rare phenomena in the history of the world.

When they had lost all hopes of survival under the islamic rule, a leading priest of the surviving Zoroastrians had a vision of God telling him to take the holy fire and the faithful with him to India and seek refuge there. They took a boat in the year 630 CE or thereabout and set sail for India braving unexpected sea storms on their way. When their storm-battered boat at last reached the shore of India at Port Sanjan in Gujarat, the leader of the refugees, who was a devout and knowledgeable priest, goes to meet the king Jadi Rana. The conversation between the priest and the king is described in a poetic fashion in what has become famous as “The Sixteen Sanskrit Slokas of Aka Adhyaru” and the legendary set of promises, known as “The Five Promises”. Apparently, the refugees actually did not use Sanskrit language but had used Pahlavi language (language of Iran at that time), however, the Pahlavi sloka were translated into Sanskrit by one, Neryosang Dhaval. The first fifteen verses are appeals of the leader of the refugees and the last one is by the King who accords permission for asylum, gives land and grants permission to build their temple where holy fire was installed. The “Five Promises” are the promises made by refugees to the king. (The holy fire, known as “Iran Shah” was first installed in the fire temple in Sanjan town as a temporary stop-gap arrangement and was subsequently permanently moved by the community to the nearby town of Udvada in a well-built new fire temple pictured here)

In a typical Indian tradition of oral history, this ancient conversation was passed on over generations. It was at last scripted into a document as late as in the year 1599 CE by a Parsi priest, Dorab Sanjana, under the title “Qissa-e-Sanjan”. The conversation brings out two interesting observations. Firstly, the king Jadi Rana was kind, knowledgeable and had foresight of a good ruler. Secondly, the leader of the refugees was knowledgeable, wise and a honourable man of God.

The King asked refugees to follow a few conditions to help make their life in India more stable, peaceful and conflict free. 1- Adopt local (Gujarati) dress and language (For easy amalgamation in the society) 2- Keep religious ceremonies like marriage etc after sunset (so as not to conflict with Hindu ceremonies that normally take place before sunset) 3) Do not bear Arms (So as not appear like a threat to locals) 4- Earn your own bread (by likes of farming) and take care of yourself (also known as ‘fend for yourself’) 5- Do not proselyte (Extension of point at 2: Do not lure locals into your faith by taking locals into Parsi Temples). 

Every generation of Parsis since the pioneering first wave of Parsis have remained truely honourable and have followed these conditions to the last comma and full stop. This is a major reason for the mutual goodwill, peaceful co-existence, trust and growth in a predominantly Hindu India despite their retention of religion and distinctive identity. This is a valuable and rare achievement from every standard. Some recent Parsi community leaders have expressed their own slightly differing views on those five promises, but that is understandable as each can have their own interpretation of any old text. Notwithstanding any alternative views, the Parsi community have remained steadfast exactly to the above promises, thus giving credence to the generally accepted version of “Five Promises”.

That the king Jadi Rana asked for a code of conduct from the incoming strangers by way of the five easy to follow promises, is a testimony to the wisdom and foresight, every ruler should possess in order to rule fairly and maintain peace, stability and harmony in the society they govern. Indeed, it takes two to tango, kudos also to the Parsi community. Instead of drowning in despair and complaining of victimhood, the community overcame all disadvantages and turned themselves into a successful and prosperous community. The operative formula that worked seems to be kindness with foresight of the host and  the honouring of the promises by the guests. 

King Jadi Rana and the Parsi community both deserve compliments and should be celebrated.

Udvada Town And The Holiest Parsi Fire temple of India

 

Parsis’ Holiest Fire Temple in India at Udvada	Udvada Town Entrance	Udvada Railway Station	Jadi Rana High School, Sanjan. (Picture of School-courtesy wikimapia.org)

Holiest Parsi Fire temple of India is situated in a small town of Udvada, about 185 km north of Mumbai. The last leg of my trip to India, in January 2025, took me to this small town of Gujarat on the coast of Arabian Sea. The Parsis are a tiny community in India. They are followers of an ancient faith, known as Zoroastrianism. Parsis are progressive and are generally loved and admired by Indians.

In their long history of more than a thousand years in India, the Parsi community has kept alive their distinct identity and yet have seamlessly merged with mainstream society. So much so that, never ever was any instance of quarrel between Parsi community and any other community.

Parsi are known in India for their jovial, friendly and helpful nature. They have built many successful business enterprises. Tata, Godrej, Wadia, Shapoorji, etc are some of the well known groups of Parsee owned businesses. They have also built many philanthropic organizations to undertake welfare of the society.

Some of the several Indian and International Businesses and Brands owned by Parsi Businessmen

 The holiest Parsi fire temple in Udvada is a beautiful looking building with traditional Zoroastrian imagery and architecture. The town also has a well maintained Museum showing Zoroastrian heritage and traditions. Interestingly I found small cards hung on the branches of the trees in the compound of the museum. At first glance, the hanging white cards looked like some decoration or perhaps a tiny equivalent of the Buddhist prayer banners that one finds around Buddhist shrines. However this was different. Each card had one of the following three quotes. “Good Thoughts”, “Good Words” and “Good Deeds” in English language on one side and its Avestan language equivalent (In English Script) on the other side “Humata”, “Hukhta” and “Hvarshta”.  A visitor to the museum can pluck card/s from there and retain them as souvenirs. The Zoroastrian religious books were written in the ancient Avestan language, an offshoot of Sanskrit, and are said to be built around those easy to remember, three tenets. Humata, Hukhta and Hvarshta. Tree-hanging cards, I thought, was a very good idea and a very apt souvenir. (Fun Fact: Sanskrit “S” becomes “H” in Avesta and with some distortions over a period of time and distance, it made, Sindhu-सिन्धु to Hindu, Sumati-सुमति (Good thoughts) to Humata, Sukti-सुक्ति (Good words) to Huktha and Srushti-सृष्टि (Good deed that creates good society/world) to Hvarashta).

Udvada is a typical small town of Gujarat. Most of its original Parsi inhabitants have moved to larger cities, however they maintain lively contact with their holiest shrine. Most Parsis, wherever they may be in the world, do not fail to make a pilgrimage to the Udvada Fire Temple. Indeed there does exist a sizable Parsi community in the town and serve the community by providing religious services at the Holy Fire Temple, providing lodging and boarding to the Parsi pilgrims. In their language, Parsis call the Fire Temple “Atash Behram”. As the fire at Udvada was originally brought from the original Fire Temple in Iran, the Udvada Fire Temple is also known as “Iranshah Atash Behram” (“Atash” is “Fire” in Iranian Farsi language, “Behram” has meanings like winning, victorious, etc )

In the Parsi chronicles, they have recorded their stories of flight from Persia (Iran), voyage to Sanjan and interactions with the hosts. In a remarkable poem, “Qissa-e-Sanjan”, famously known as “Sixteen Shloka”, the leader of the refugees narrates his conversation with the King, Jadi Rana. It encapsulates their discussion in Sanskrit language. The first fifteen shlokas cover submission of the visitor and the sixteenth shloka is the reply of the King, granting them asylum.

King Jadi Rana was certainly a remarkable ruler. He had that foresight, often missing in other rulers. He knew what bonds two communities without compelling them to change their religion and yet to let both communities flourish and freely keep their independent identities. He was unique. Modern day rulers can learn something from him. I was therefore curious to find if the town of Udvada had maintained any relics, edicts or memorials to commemorate King Jadi Rana, or had built any monument or memorial for the wise King. Strangely, I could not find it. May be it was not so prominent and I missed it.