In northern Luzon of Philippines, there is a desolate small mountain town named Sagada, the Igorot people who are living there have an interesting funeral custom, they like to place the coffins of the dead people on cliffs, these coffins are called ‘Hanging Coffins’.
Most of the hanging coffins are placed on the cliffs in Echo Valley of Sagada. Echo Valley is a cemetery, all gravestones scattered along the hillside, look very messy.
Some of the hanging coffins can date back to few hundreds years ago, the coffins are smaller than expected, the bones of the dead had been broken while fitting in.
Igorot people believe that if the coffins are hanging on the cliffs, the souls of the dead can rest in peace, the soul of the descendants can also be blessed, while the living descendants can guard their ancestors.
Some of the hanging coffins have the bloodstains underneath which makes them look creepy. On the other hand, the dead who were buried into the hanging coffins had to have been married and had grandchildren.
It was said that ‘hanging coffin’ such a weird funeral custom had been prohibited by the government, the last hanging coffin was hung in 2008.
