Alamat ng Banaue Rice Terraces

The Banaue Rice Terraces climb the mountains of Ifugao, about 1,500 meters above sea level. People say the Ifugao ancestors cut them by hand, with simple tools, and feed them with water channels from the forests above. No old founding legend appears in the sources. The belief is known in general form only. The terraces are an ancestral work, handed down and kept up by each generation.

Age is a point of debate. The anthropologist Otley Beyer guessed more than 2,000 years, but later researchers think the terraces are much younger. Rice life in Ifugao has many seasonal feasts, from planting to harvest. After the harvest, a rest day called tungul or tango brings a strict ban on field work. Families share rice wine, sticky cakes and betel nut during the feasts.

Today the terraces face drought, giant earthworms, rodents and snails. Many young people leave farming for tourism work, so the walls need constant repair.