Tribute to Iemanjá brings together thousands of people in Arpoador

Thousands of people gathered in Rio de Janeiro this Friday (2) to pay homage to Iemanjá, the Queen of the Sea. In the South Zone of Rio, for the second consecutive year, Iemanjá do Arpoador Day featured a procession and 14 artistic and free religious services. The party attracted both religious people and those passing through one of the city's most important tourist attractions.

Iemanjá is an orixá that is part of African-based religions in Brazil, such as Candomblé and Umbanda. In her original cult, she is an orixá associated with rivers and rivers, female fertility and motherhood. She is also regent of fishing and patron saint of fishermen.

The celebration began with the procession with offerings to Iemanjá, led by representatives of Umbanda and Candomblé houses with centuries-old origins in the state and artists from afoxé, jongo and samba groups. Then, the program continued with Candomblé circle, Umbanda circle, Jongo circle, samba de roda, show and DJs. According to an estimate from the event organizers, around 15 thousand people participated in the celebration.

“It is time for us to applaud these masters of quilombos, of terreiros. It's a moment for us to recognize them a little, to pay homage to them too. Not only to Iemanjá, but to them who maintained these traditions”, says the event's creator, musician Marcos André Carvalho.

Taking gifts from Iemanjá to Arpoador beach is, according to Carvalho, a way of returning to an old tradition and drawing attention to the party. It was the tributes to Iemanjá that gave rise to the famous Copacabana New Year's Eve. Researchers point out that Umbanda supporters were the first to adopt the practice of meeting on the last day of the year on the most visited beach in Rio de Janeiro. Until the mid-1990s, many people gathered on the beach on December 31st with cake, fruit, sweets, delicacies and offerings to Iemanjá.

When the former Le Méridien Hotel, now the Hilton Hotel, held a fireworks display in 1987, the party took a different turn. The pyrotechnic event would be repeated in the following years, gradually giving shape to the New Year's Eve that we know today, as one of the biggest in the world and in Brazil.

“Most people don't even know why they spend New Year's Eve in white and throw flowers into the sea, but it's because way back, in the 1950s, a saint called Tata Tancredo decided to take the Umbanda party to the beach in Zona Sul in Iemanjá day”, recalls Carvalho.

Iemanjá day is therefore, according to him, a time to recognize and value the importance of Afro-Carioca culture in the formation of the Rio identity of the city of Rio de Janeiro. “Samba was born from Umbanda, Candomblé and jongo, and Bossa Nova was born from samba. All these terreiros, with centuries-old houses, are very important to show the beauty of our ancestral culture and traditional communities,” he says.

Thanks and requests

Throughout the afternoon, devotees paid tribute, thanked and made requests to the Queen of the Sea. Maria Fernandes, 72 years old, is a terreiro mother in the São José da Serra quilombo, in Valença (RJ). She came to Rio to participate in the festivities at Carvalho's invitation. “It is very important for us. It's holding the hand of God and the hand of the orixás and everything we ask for, if we ask with faith, we achieve. And Iemanjá never leaves us, at any time.”

Simone Ferreira, 46 years old, and her mother, Selma Maria Ferreira, 68 years old, are from Vigário Geral, North Zone of Rio, and went to pay their respects to Iemanjá. “I think this date is very important for Brazil, for Rio de Janeiro”, says Simone. “There is a question of faith and a cultural question. We see the union of various beliefs. People who have a popular, cultural childhood devotion. And people who began to practice their faith in the orixás. And also because it is the day of Our Lady of Navigators. I think there's an emotional issue, there's a cultural issue, a joy, that people come to celebrate. Even though it’s not a holiday, people meet and it’s becoming a very important date here in Rio too,” she adds.

Selma also highlights the importance of the party, especially for terreiro populations and the black population. “It’s really important for our race, for black people especially. But the whole people integrate, both black and white. Religions are also integrated. I think it's very important. It’s very interesting and very beautiful,” she says.