Libad nang APUNG IRU ning APALIT

Sandalwood is a precious element in Vedic Culture. It is also the direct translation of "Apalit" in English, a town in Pampanga wherein Rajah Balagtas' descendants settled and cultivated the lands for rice planting long before the Spaniards came. The town remains to have one of the most expansive areas planted to rice up to now. The famous artisan, Pande Pilak or Panday Pira (meaning silver smith) had his foundry in the Kapalangan/Sulipan area. Libad or fluvial procession, a tradition passed on from generation to generations and up to the present serves as the highlight of all the events in Apalit town. It is celebrated in honor of Saint Peter or Apung Iru as the townsfolks fondly call him. Extravagantly decorated paros or giant boats and even virays sometimes come from nearby towns and provinces even to join the libad whether for fun or for devotion. No one can kill a tradition and that is proven so well by libad, presumably a Vedic practice similar to what they perform in the Sacred Rivers of Vrindaban in the Bharata Varsha of yore or what is best-known now as India, the empire that remotely influenced even Apalit in the not-so-ancient times.with added melody in the beginning and some localized lyrics very relevant to Apalit.