Lumiang Burial Cave Housed 500-Year-Old Coffins

LUMIANG BURIAL CAVE

Photo from: https://www.doctortaylorphotography.com/Travel/Philippines/i-GVHkMmp/

The Lumiang Burial Cave is located just a short distance north of Sumaguing Cave on the Suyo Road. We needed to do a short trek (passing through spectacular scenery of karst formations intermingled with clusters of pine trees on the hillsides) before reaching the entrance to the cave with its collection of coffins. If you’re the adventurer type you can do the 4 hour cave connection by descending through Lumiang Cave and exiting through Sumaguing. Again a guide is an absolute must for this adventure and you will need to go rappelling on some sections. We opted instead for the easier trek down Sumaguing Cave first, hopped aboard our rented vehicle for the 5-minute ride to Lumiang and trekked to the latter where we were able to view the stack of coffins without having to go inside the cave itself. Many of the coffins (the older ones) seem unusually short but we later learned that this was because the bodies were traditionally placed in a fetal position. Newer coffins have the bodies laid out in the more conventional way and are therefore longer. Read More: http://shoestringtravelers.com/responsive/sagada.php

Photo from: https://beyondoutdooradventures.com/?attachment_id=2225

We drove to our next stop – the Lumiang Burial Cave. We parked and walked down the trail at the back of a mini store. Got to be careful stepping on the dried pine needles scattered on the grounds, they’re smooth and slippery.

Upon reaching the cave, you’ll find several wooden coffins stacked on top of one another. It differs with the coffins at the Echo Valley, those were suspended on air by some ropes clinging on the rock cliff, whereas these ones are just placed at the mouth of the cave.

According to local tale, the coffins at the mouth of the cave were placed there in the belief that the lights getting in the cave protect the souls of the dead against bad spirits. On the other hand, people believe that the practice of hanging coffins high above the ground brings them nearer to their ancestral spirits. Read More: http://travelingbydefault.blogspot.com/2014/04/mountain-province-sagada-wooden-coffins.html

Photo from: https://www.tripadvisor.com.ph/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g304053-d319572-i94386569-The_Hanging_Coffins_Of_Sagada-Sagada_Mountain_Province_Cordillera_Region_L.html

The Lumiang Burial Caves housed at least 200 coffins that have been there for 500 years. The funeral procession is being lead by torch bearers whose responsibility is to ensure that no birds, rats, chickens or snakes cross the path of the procession as it is considered a bad omen. Bad omen would mean finding another burial ground for the departed. Some of the coffins’ lids also bore the carvings of the lizard or gecko, the Sagadans’ symbol of fertility and longevity. It means that the person who owns the coffin is one of the elders or an esteemed leader. Read More: http://therestingspots.blogspot.com/2011/08/sagada-hanging-coffins.html

Photo from: https://www.trover.com/d/19KKo-lumiang-cave-sagada-philippines