Steemit Philippines Photography Contest Week 3 : Mano Po!
Every single day, this is a scene in the family living room, sometimes it happens in the dining area. The location may change but the habit has been practiced every single day. The image above shows my parents holding my baby Matti and my sister-in-law holding her 5-year-old son, they are trying to teach Matti to pay respect to his older cousin. The same goes for the elders, this was the only picture I was able to take successfully because my baby is moving actively.
In Tagalog, we say "mano po" but in the Visayas region or specifically in Bohol, we say "bless ko" which means the same thing.
This culture has been with the Filipinos for hundreds of years. Bowing towards the hand of the elder and pressing it into our foreheads means we honor them being our elders. This also signifies that we are asking for blessing from them.
Ever since we were young, this was already instilled in our minds. Every time we wake up in the morning, as we rise and meet our parents in the living room, this has to be done. The culture has been alive even today as my baby is now being practiced to show respect. We have shown him how to do it and as a toddler, he sometimes does it and sometimes would just ignore us. He would sometimes take our hand and most of the time would just bow and hit the hand. It's funny but that's because he still doesn't understand how this works and what it meant.
But I believe that as he grows older, he would then understand the meaning of such a gesture. Honoring our elders is very important and is one of the Filipino cultures that we have to keep alive. We have to practice it with our little children, start them young because as soon as they grow older and also build their old family, they will be able to also practice it and share its importance to their children.
May we learn to keep this culture alive among us, our families, and our children and in the coming generations.
Thank you for reading. I am inviting my friends @kneelyrac @g10a @long888 @gecellbeltran to join in this contest. Know more about it here:
xoxo,
junebride
Hello po,
Maraming salamat sa pagsalit sa ating Photography Contest Week 3 with the Theme: Filipino Culture.
Sana ay masaya ka dito sa ating Community at maging aktibo pa po kayo sa pagbahagi nang iyong mga posts.
Sa karagdagang Impormasyon, paki bisita po ang ating Community Account at Social Media Accounts.
God Bless po!!!