Sagada

In Sagada, coffins are not put six feet under the earth, but nailed to cliff faces, where they hang significantly more than six feet above the ground. The Igorot tribe of this Mountain Province believe the height of the coffins correlates with the distance that must be travelled by the dead towards divinity. Some insist that it is done for practicality, so neither wild animals can reach the corpses, nor water can seep through and accelerate the rotting of the bodies. Whatever the reason, this practice has been honoured for 2,000 years. Still, Sagada’s elderly seem to be the last practitioners of this sacred ritual, as the nation’s shift to Christianity is leading to a change in beliefs. The tradition is gradually dying out: The younger generation want to visit graves in the cemetery, and not attempt to scale cliffs to honour the deceased. Nevertheless, the coffins still hang proud off the cliffs and are most definitely a unique feast for the eyes to devour.