Container often made of papier-mâché, pottery, or cloth

Piñata

Piñata

A piñata (<a href="/en/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English" class="wl">/pɪnˈjɑːtə/</a>, <small about="#mwt10" typeof="mw:Transclusion" data-mw="{&quot;parts&quot;:[{&quot;template&quot;:{&quot;target&quot;:{&quot;wt&quot;:&quot;IPA-es&quot;,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;./Template:IPA-es&quot;},&quot;params&quot;:{&quot;1&quot;:{&quot;wt&quot;:&quot;piˈɲata&quot;},&quot;2&quot;:{&quot;wt&quot;:&quot;-&quot;},&quot;3&quot;:{&quot;wt&quot;:&quot;Piñata1.ogg&quot;}},&quot;i&quot;:0}}]}">Spanish pronunciation:&nbsp;<a href="/en/Help:IPA/Spanish" title="Help:IPA/Spanish" class="wl">[piˈɲata]</a> (<a href="/en/File:Piñata1.ogg" title="About this sound" class="image wl"><img loading="lazy" alt="Loudspeaker.svg" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Loudspeaker.svg/11px-Loudspeaker.svg.png" decoding="async" data-file-width="20" data-file-height="20" data-file-type="drawing" height="11" width="11" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Loudspeaker.svg/17px-Loudspeaker.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/Loudspeaker.svg/22px-Loudspeaker.svg.png 2x"></a><a href="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Pi%C3%B1ata1.ogg" resource="./Media:Piñata1.ogg" title="Pi%C3%B1ata1.ogg" target="_blank">listen</a>)) is a container, often made of <a href="/en/Papier-mâché" title="Papier-mâché" class="wl">papier-mâché</a>, <a href="/en/Pottery" title="Pottery" class="wl">pottery</a>, or <a href="/en/Cloth" title="Cloth" class="mw-redirect wl">cloth</a>, that is decorated, filled with candy, and then broken as part of a celebration. Piñatas are commonly associated with <a href="/en/Mexico" title="Mexico" class="wl">Mexico</a>. The idea of breaking a container filled with treats came to Europe in the 14th century. The Spanish brought the European tradition to Mexico, although there were similar traditions in <a href="/en/Mesoamerica" title="Mesoamerica" class="wl">Mesoamerica</a>, such as the Aztecs' honoring the birthday of the god <a href="/en/Huītzilōpōchtli" title="Huītzilōpōchtli" class="wl">Huītzilōpōchtli</a> in mid-December. According to local records, the Mexican piñata tradition began in the town of <a href="/en/Acolman" title="Acolman" class="wl">Acolman</a>, just north of <a href="/en/Mexico_City" title="Mexico City" class="wl">Mexico City</a>, where piñatas were introduced for catechism purposes as well as to co-opt the Huitzilopochtli ceremony. Today, the piñata is still part of Mexican culture, the cultures of other countries in <a href="/en/Latin_America" title="Latin America" class="wl">Latin America</a>, as well as the United States, but it has mostly lost its religious character.
<figure class="mw-halign-right wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:Piñata_Animation.gif" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:Piñata_Animation.gif"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Pi%C3%B1ata_Animation.gif/300px-Pi%C3%B1ata_Animation.gif" decoding="async" data-file-width="673" data-file-height="417" data-file-type="bitmap" height="186" width="300" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Pi%C3%B1ata_Animation.gif/450px-Pi%C3%B1ata_Animation.gif 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6a/Pi%C3%B1ata_Animation.gif/600px-Pi%C3%B1ata_Animation.gif 2x" alt="Pi%C3%B1ata_Animation.gif"></a><figcaption>A woman strikes a piñata at a celebration.</figcaption></figure>

<div class="shortdescription nomobile noexcerpt noprint searchaux" style="display:none" about="#mwt1">Container often made of papier-mâché, pottery, or cloth</div>
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<figure class="mw-halign-right wiki-thumb"><a href="/en/File:PIÑATA.jpg" class="mw-file-description image media-thumb" data-hash="File:PIÑATA.jpg"><img loading="lazy" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/PI%C3%91ATA.jpg/300px-PI%C3%91ATA.jpg" decoding="async" data-file-width="1280" data-file-height="960" data-file-type="bitmap" height="225" width="300" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/PI%C3%91ATA.jpg/450px-PI%C3%91ATA.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/66/PI%C3%91ATA.jpg/600px-PI%C3%91ATA.jpg 2x" alt="PI%C3%91ATA.jpg"></a><figcaption>A nine-pointed star piñata</figcaption></figure>

A piñata ) is a container, often made of papier-mâché, pottery, or cloth, that is decorated, filled with candy, and then broken as part of a celebration. Piñatas are commonly associated with Mexico. The idea of breaking a container filled with treats came to Europe in the 14th century. The Spanish brought the European tradition to Mexico, although there were similar traditions in Mesoamerica, such as the Aztecs' honoring the birthday of the god Huītzilōpōchtli in mid-December. According to local records, the Mexican piñata tradition began in the town of Acolman, just north of Mexico City, where piñatas were introduced for catechism purposes as well as to co-opt the Huitzilopochtli ceremony. Today, the piñata is still part of Mexican culture, the cultures of other countries in Latin America, as well as the United States, but it has mostly lost its religious character. 