Abu Dhabi: The ‘Day of the Dead’ was marked at the Mexican Embassy in Abu Dhabi with a ceremony remembering Nobel Prize winner in literature, Octavio Paz, with an altar placed and dedicated to the author.
The Day of the Dead festival is most commonly marked in Mexico as well as other parts of the world by different cultures, with friends and family gathering together to remember those who have passed away. The tradition has been included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.
Speaking to Gulf News, the Secretary of the Deputy Head of Mission for the Mexican Embassy, Ana Tendero, discussed some of the practices carried out during the ‘Day of the Dead’. “The festivities are accompanied with food dedicated for the deceased, some others dedicate prayers or even music for the deceased.”
“Altars are also built for the dead inside houses or courtyards. People go to the cemeteries to clean the graves s and to decorate and adorn them with flowers. The children go on November 1, with the adults going to the cemeteries on November 2.” she added.
Guests attending the event held at the Mexican Embassy were also treated to what is known as ‘pan de muerto’, the bread of the dead, followed by Mexican chocolates. Describing what exactly the bread of the dead is, Tendero told Gulf News, “It is a sweet cake which is a tradition of this celebration, and it is usually eaten with hot chocolate Mexican style.”
The Mexican Embassy in Abu Dhabi in a statement about the celebrations of the ‘Day of the Dead’ says: “This tradition is a blend of the pre-Hispanic and the Spanish roots in our culture. The altar to the dead is proof of our vast indigenous heritage that has mixed with the Spanish one after the arrival of the Conquistadors. In Mexican culture, life and death are inextricably linked. This year, the altar was dedicated to Octavio Paz, Nobel Prize winner in Literature in 1990.”
Sami Zaatari is a trainee at Gulf News
