The people of Sagada continue burying their dead in hanging coffins

The people of Sagada have devised a unique burial ritual involving the placement of dead relatives into caves after carefully preparing a hollowed out log.
These coffins are carved by the elderly or their son or relative before they die. This ritual involves pushing the bodies into the tight spaces of the coffins, and often bones are cracked and broken as the process is completed. After the deceased are put inside these coffins and then they are brought to caves high in the cliffs where they join the coffins of other ancestors. The Segada people prefer to be buried in the cliffs than to be buried in the ground and have been doing this for more than 2,000 years.
In some caves hundreds of coffins are lined up, and unfortunately tourists are unregulated in this area, some have even taken some of the bones as souvenirs. The tourists should refrain from robbing the graves and must show respect towards this century old tradition that promises heaven for the deceased ancestors. If you do visit these caves, make sure you get a guide as some of the caves are hard to find and the roads can be tricky to navigate.
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Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Global
• report
• Hanging
• Coffins
• Sagada
• Philippines
• burial
• ritual

[Mari443Garrett]

Correction on your description. The hollowed out coffin goes to the cave first before the body. Carrying the body to the cave comes with alot of tradition and rituals. Plus if they put the body in the coffin first, it gets so heavy because the coffin is 3-4 inches thick and the path to the cave is difficult to navigate. Great documentary of my peoples tradition though. Informative.

[papaduke24]

nice video documentary