Filipino ‘Mud People’ have a miracle backstory about escaping execution by Japanese troops
The ‘Mud People’ festival, believed to have begun more than a century ago, became much more prominent after 1944 during Japan’s wartime occupation of the former US colony
They say there’s nothing quite like it for cooling the blood, but for more than a thousand Filipinos at a Catholic festival on Sunday, slathering their bodies in mud was a way to show devotion and humility.
The annual tradition forms part of a joyous religious festival honouring a saint they believed saved residents from execution by Japanese soldiers during the second world war.
Men, women and children sat in soggy rice paddies before dawn in the town of Aliaga, 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Manila, covering each other in muck before donning dried banana leaves in the annual “Mud People” festival.
A tradition that draws the faithful and tourists alike, the event celebrates the feast of John the Baptist with devotees taking part in what they see as an act of humility and penance that imitates a saint who preached and lived a life of poverty in the desert.
“I got goosebumps when I joined the festival. The Lord is showering us with love,” 35-year-old businessman and village official Win Javaluyas said.
“I am so happy. This is one way of being closer to God, to purify your intention and be holy.”