The Religious Culture in Salvador de Bahia

Salvador de Bahia is a marvelous city situated on the northern coast of Brazil and is the capital of northern Brazilian state of Bahia. It is often called, the black heart of Brazil. About 12 million of people live in Salvador de Bahia. One can notice a great influence of European, Amerindian and African culture here. The old renaissance buildings in this city may charm you. Salvador de Bahia has been declared as UNESCO world heritage city in 1985. One can find multi dimensional social religious and culture aspects here. The Salvador de Bahia is a perfect place to roam around and the beautiful sights here make you fall love with this place. The amazing natural sights, forests, gorgeous looking coast and the great climate conditions make it one of the favorite destinations for people to visit.
The culture of Salvador de Bahia is quiet rich and point of attraction for millions of tourists who visit here every year. The largest street carnival of Brazil is held in Salvador de Bahia. Huge sound trucks, playing high volume music from axe and pagoda (Brazilian music) passing through the streets, with a big crowd dancing and enjoying in the whole carnival. This festival is on its peak and goes on till midnight. The second biggest carnival starts in the month of June and named as Sao Joao. The main feature of this carnival is music played by drums. Nowadays, it is also accompanied with electric guitar. The Portuguese people enjoy the carnival to its fullest and celebrate it at its full swing by dancing, partying, interacting and drinking persimmon liquor (the popular drink of Sao Joao).
Normally if we take a look at religion in Salvador de Bahia we will find a combination of African Candomble and the Portuguese Christianism. The Portuguese masters banned black slaves. Due to the strong influence of Jesus Christ, Christians were tolerated. The saints are called orixas and the holy places where religious practices are followed are called terreiros. Despite the influence of Christianity one can find the orixas and terreiros all over the Salvador de Bahia. It is normally believed by the people that orixas has amazing powers to control the force of nature. The orixas are deep rooted in Africa, around 5000 years ago. Exu is considered as one of the most significant orixas, who is also known as mediator between man and god.
The other orixás are Xangô, of fire and thunder; Iemanjá, of seas and oceans; and Iansã, of wind and lightning, holder of the souls of the dead. The terreiros are the main place where cults take place. There are approximately more than 2000 terreiros in Salvador de Bahia. The ritual washing of the steps of the Igreja do Nosso Senhor do Bonfim is held every year in the month of January, on the second Sunday. Five hundred women dressed traditionally pour water and sprinkle lavender on the first ten steps washing it and singing hyns in African language.