More "Ofrendas"

If you should visit Mexico City during the Day of the Dead season, you will see "ofrendas", the altars in memory of the dead, everywhere.  They are not just within the privacy of people's homes.  Many businesses also set up an ofrenda.

This "ofrenda" was just inside the entrance of a branch of "El Bajío", a chain of restaurants.

One business had even set up an "ofrenda" on the sidewalk along busy Insurgentes Avenue.

We saw this "ofrenda" in the courtyard to the side of the Cathedral.

A sign next to it explained that it told the story of the Mayan goddess of love, Ixchel.

We were both surprised that such a "pagan" display had been put up at the Cathedral.

In front of the Mexican Senate building there is a humungous "ofrenda".

People can place photos of their departed loved ones on the "ofrenda" or write a message to them and attach it to the archway of marigolds.

Next door to the neighborhood where I stay is the "colonia" of San Pedro de los Pinos.  Once you get past the busy avenues of Patriotismo and Revolución, this neighborhood has the feel of a small Mexican town.  Rather than high rise apartment buildings, most of the residences are single-family homes, and most of the businesses are mom-and-pop stores and restaurants rather than chains.  San Pedro de los Pinos even has a pleasant plaza with a bandstand similar to those found in countless small towns in Mexico.  The bandstand was decorated with skeletons for the Day of the Dead season.

I was passing through this neighborhood the week before the Day of the Dead.  I noticed an older man building a large "ofrenda" on the plaza.  I came by a number of times after that to check on the progress.  The same gentleman was still working on the project which seemed to be his handiwork and his alone.  On the day before the Day of the Dead, I returned to see his finished "ofrenda".

The display included a graveyard.

There was a table of skeletons drinking and playing cards.

Although Halloween has intruded on the traditional observance, Day of the Dead remains a holiday that is uniquely Mexican.