Piñata Totally Explained

Everything about Pi Ata totally explained

The piñata is a brightly-colored paper container filled with sweets and/or toys. It is generally suspended on a rope from a tree branch or ceiling and is used during celebrations. A succession of blindfolded, stick-wielding children try to break the piñata in order to collect the sweets (traditionally sugarcane) and/or toys inside of it. It has been used for hundreds of years to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas and Easter.

Etymology

The Spanish word piñata comes from the Italian word pignatta (External Link

), a pinecone-shaped clay pot (from pigna, "pinecone"). Traditionally, people would get blindfolded and spun in circles to make it harder to have good balance. Or 'pin-yah-ta' in english.

Origins

Given its special association with Mexico, the piñata probably derives from pre-Columbian Aztec ritual clay pots. One version of these were the rain-god clay pots (External Link

) which ritually represented a thunderstorm. The pots were decorated and included a face of the rain god Tlaloc. These pots were filled with water rather than candy or toys. Striking a pot represented thunder and the resulting outflow of water represented the downpour of rain. Another version was associated with the war god Huitzilopochtli and the cycle of the calendar. At the end of the year, and to herald the new year, a clay pot covered with feathers and filled with trinkets was raised on a pole to be struck with a stick or bat. With the adoption of Catholicism, these Aztec religious rituals were transformed. The piñata became both a secular ritual, typically employed for birthday celebrations, and also as described below, coopted into Catholic symbolism, and perhaps through the Church, introduced into Europe.
   There are various other hypotheses as to the origin of the piñata. One version, for example, speculates that the piñata was found in China by Marco Polo and brought to Italy. However, there's no reliable source for this oft-repeated story. There is no evidence that piñatas existed in Italy before Europeans arrived in Mexico, although the tradition does appear afterward in Lenten festivals. The preceding speculation continues, that the Italian pignatta was subsequently introduced into Spain, but was usually called la olla, the word for a pot. From there, it's said to have been introduced to Mexico, which coincidentally already had its own versions of the olla or piñata. However, there's no evidence that the olla or piñata existed in Spain prior to the conquest of Mexico. Moreover, the piñata didn't appear anywhere else in Spain's Latin America colonies until some time later, and even today, isn't commonly found outside of Mexico and Mexican communities abroad. Piñatas are made from easily breakable materials, such as straw, papier-mâché, or clay. Traditionally they were made in the shape of human or animal figures, but, in recent times, vehicles, cartoon characters, or corporate mascots have gained in popularity. In some areas in Mexico and Central America, one finds small stores called piñaterías that are devoted exclusively to sales of piñatas.
   In the Mexican Catholic celebration of Christmas, the piñata is traditionally shaped like a seven-pointed star which represents the devil and the seven deadly sins, while the contents are the goods or blessings he's withholding. Striking the devil with faith, symbolized by being blindfolded, releases the blessings.
   Over the past couple decades, the piñata tradition has been adopted by many Americans and has become a more common sight at parties and celebrations in the Southern US. In this region they're also commonly sold at both regular grocery stores and Hispanic specialty supermarkets.

The Dale, Dale Song

While hitting the piñata the following rhyme is commonly sung:
ť Dale, dale, dale,

   No pierdas el tiro ť Porque si lo pierdes

   pierdes el camino. ť Dale, dale, dale

   Dale y no le dio ť Quítenle la venda

   ¡Porque sigo yo! ť ¡Se Acabó!

   ¡Sigo yo! which translates as:
ť Hit it, hit it, hit it (or Go, go, go)

   Don't lose your aim ť Because if you lose it (your aim)

   You will lose the path. (or road) ť Hit it, hit it, hit it (or Go, go, go)

   Hit it, He didn't hit it ť Take away his blindfold

   Because it's now my turn! ť I'm next!

Variation:
ť Dale, dale, dale,

   No pierdas el tino ť Porque si lo pierdes

   pierdes el camino. ť Ya le diste una,

   Ya le diste dos, ť Ya le diste tres,

   Y tu tiempo se acabó ť ¡Se Acabó!

Other meanings

The word piñata was also used for the process whereby Nicaragua's former Sandinista leaders held on to property they'd nationalized while in power. The successor government accepted these appropriations.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Pi Ata'.

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