El Señor del Encino

The alter of El Templo del Encino.

Note that El Señor's left arm is longer than his right.

This past week our neighbourhood church, El Templo del Encino, has been celebrating the special days of the year for its patron and centrepiece.
The Jesus figure was made about two hundred and forty years ago from an Encino tree. He’s approximately 3 feet tall and his left arm is said to be steadily growing longer.
So, to honour el Señor, the church bells have been tolling loudly every morning beginning at 7:00. At 11:30 am, 11:45 am, 12:00 noon, 6:30 pm, 6:45 pm and 7:00 pm the bells are rung again and accompanied each time by a series of cuetes. These cuetes are extremely loud firecrackers that are shot out of bazookas from the roof of the church.
All week there have been processions to the church by local businesses and school children. Each group has their own specific day and time for proceeding to the church and attending mass.
The entire garden in front of the church has been turned into a combination carnival/market. There are dozens of stalls selling nuts and fruit, hot dog stands, churros, and other foods. There’s an entire section of trampolines set up, rows of fusball tables and carnival games. And finally, there’s a whole section of rides. And all this in our backyard! Frankly, we’ll be happy to have our relatively quiet, peaceful garden back.
On the actual day of the El Senor, November 13, the parade featuring a replica of el Señor ended just below our balcony at about 10:00 pm. The entire thing culminated with a big display of fireworks and burning of a castillo. The castillo was a large wooden structure suspended above an open area in the garden. It’s various parts were lit on fire, allowing sparks of blue, red, and white to explode into the air while the structure disintegrated. Particularly awesome was the sight of the suspended wooden hearts burning and dripping red sparks, made to look like blood.