AI illustration
Chocolate Hills legend
People in Bohol tell several tales about the Chocolate Hills. In one, two giants throw mud and rocks at each other, and the hills are what is left. In another, a giant named Arogo cries for his dead human love Aloya, and his tears form the mounds.
Folklore is retold; versions differ.
Sources: Wikipedia: Chocolate Hills (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikidata (CC0)
The story
The Chocolate Hills of Bohol are more than 1,200 grass-covered mounds, spread through Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan. In the dry season the grass turns brown, which gives them their name. Geologists explain them as limestone shaped by rain and groundwater over a very long time. Folk stories give another explanation, and they all involve giants.
In one tale, two giants lived at opposite ends of the island. A fight over mud grew into a brawl, and both died. The mud they threw is the hills. A second tale is a love story. The giant Arogo fell for a human woman, Aloya. When she died of illness, his tears dropped on the ground and became the mounds. A third tale says giant children played in the flatlands of Carmen. They baked mud cakes under coconut shells and had to go home before the game ended. When they came back, they admired the cakes and left them there.
The hills are on the Bohol flag and seal. A 2013 earthquake and grass fires have damaged some of them.