Performers from Kalinga province broke two world records during its 28th founding anniversary celebration last week.
The grand performance called “Call of a Thousand Gongs, Dance of a Thousand Pots” landed in the Guinness World Records for breaking two records on February 15, as follows:
- The Largest Gong Ensemble
- The Largest Banga Dance
They were confirmed by Guinness World Records Official Adjudicator Kazuyoshi Kirimura after the show at 9 p.m. at the Kalinga Sports Complex.
This achievement was also announced on the Kalinga government’s official Facebook account. A video clip of this performance accompanied the post.
“HISTORIC: Kalinga breaks two world records!” the post reads.
“The province would like to extend its gratitude to all the participants who endure the long hours and rain for this historic achievement. You made this possible, thank you very much!” the Province of Kalinga also added.
Kalinga’s first attempt to land on Guinness was in 2018 for the largest gong group title.
The full video of the record-breaking show was uploaded in a separate post here The Call of a Thousand Gongs, The Dance of a Thousand Pots.
It has so far garnered 186,000 views and 19,000 reactions. Of the reactions, 10,000 were heart reactions, 8,500 were likes and 429 were shock reactions.
In the post, the provincial government detailed that the massive gathering of performers comprises the following groups of individuals:
- 3,440 Kalinga male folks played their gongs in an ensemble
- 4,681 Kalinga women who danced with pots called “banga” on their heads
The performers called Awong chi Gangsa players and Agtu’n chi Banga dancers also accomplished executing their routines under strict criteria set by the Guinness World Records. These include “clean execution and synchronicity.”
The Kalinga government further stated: “Additionally, the municipality of Rizal showed off their G-string or ‘ba-ag’ incredibly stretching 1 kilometer, and the longest of its kind in the entire Philippines.”
Both recognitions can be accessed via the Guinness World Records website. Here, Guinness detailed that the gong ensemble and the Banga dance are performed together.
“The gong ensemble and the Banga dance are usually performed together. The gong ensemble is the symbol of unification,” it said.
The Kalinga traditional dance, meanwhile, features hand-made clay pots.
“Banga dance is a dance that features clay pots. They used to put the clay pot on their head and carry water,” Guinness said.
Kalinga was founded as an individual province of the Cordillera region in 1992 by virtue of Republic Act 7878.
It was previously joined together with Apayao as a sub-province of the Mountain Province.
Kalinga has eight municipalities—Rizal, Balbalan, Tabuk, Pinukpuk, Pasil, Lubungan, Tanudan, Tinglayan. Tabuk is the capital.
