While visiting cemeteries is not at the top of most people’s lists of things to see when traveling, sometimes, the burial customs of different peoples around the globe can give us insight into their culture and traditions.
The Philippines is a country made up of 7,107 islands, divided into three main groupings, Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Sagada is nestled in a valley in the north of Luzon Island. Breathtaking beauty and natural wonders are big draws here. From a mountainside layered with rice terraces, to towering waterfalls and mountain scenery, as well as wonderful caverns filled with limestone formations, many of the wonders are only a 20 minute walk from the center of town.
The hanging coffins of Sagada
But the most unusual sights are the hanging coffins of the indigenous Igorot people. From the town center, there are actually several places a visitor can go to view the coffins. And while it is a fascinating burial custom and said to date back at least 2,000 years, there is some question as to the authenticity of the claim because the oldest coffins are only several hundred years old.
Row upon row of pine caskets, plain or painted in bright colors, some of them hundreds of years old seem to cling to the sides of the cliff face in Echo Valley in Sagada. The coffins hang in place with the help of spikes driven into the face of the cliff, It is said that not everyone can be buried this way, though. You have to be a grandparent and have grandchildren.
According to Igorot tradition, death is embraced and actively prepared for. It is said that the elderly carve their own coffins in readiness for their ultimate demise. If an elder is unable to carve their coffin, it is a task given to the grandchildren. The practice of burial up on the side of a cliff is both spiritual and practical. It is believed that burial on the side of a cliff brings the body closer to heaven or their ancestral spirits.
The more practical reason is very compelling, though. It is thought that the Igorots knew that corpses buried in the earth would decompose quicker, and there was a good chance of the remains being eaten by animals. And hundreds of years ago, head-hunting was a way of life for many of the indigenous peoples, so it is thought that the Igorots kept head-hunters from stealing the corpses by raising the coffins up on the sides of the cliffs.
Hanging coffins are an ancient burial custom of many minorities
The Bo people and Guyue people of ancient China buried the dead in hanging coffins, some dating back to the Zhou Dynasty (1027-777BC). It has been suggested that long ago, there was an intermingling of the Igorots and ancient Bo people that allowed for the infusion of this burial custom to arise.
The Bo people also carved their coffins out of a solid piece of wood or sometimes bronze drums, balancing them on rock outcrops or beams protruding from the vertical faces of cliffs. In both the Bo and Igorot cultures, the body was placed in a fetal position when a burial took place, the reason being that a person left the world the same way they came into the world.
