Pinatas

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 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 is no reliable source for this oft-repeated story. There is no evidence that piñatas existed in Italy before Europeans came to 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 is said to have been introduced to Mexico, which coincidentally already had its own versions of the olla or piñata. However, there is no evidence that the olla or piñata existed in Spain prior to the conquest of Mexico. Moreover, the piñata did not appear anywhere else in Spain's Latin America colonies until some time later, and even today, is not commonly found outside of Mexico and Mexican communities abroad.

Many More Girl's Pinatas at Pinatas.com!!!!

Many More Boy's Pinatas at Pinatas.com!!!!

Many More Girl's Party Supplies at Pinatas.com!!!!

Many More Boy's Party Supplies at Pinatas.com!!!!