Ancient Bayanihan Tradition Of The Filipino People: Villagers Move Your Entire House Including Walls And Roof
A. Sutherland - AncientPages.com - The ancient Bayanihan tradition of the Filipino people is a true sign of good ‘community spirit’ and shows Filipinos’ concept of helping one another most especially in times of need without expecting anything in return.
According to this custom, villagers help someone relocate by lifting up their entire house and moving it somewhere else. When we say entire house, we mean really the whole house, including its walls and roof.
It sounds like a tremendous effort, but the traditional Filipino house, the ‘bahay-kubo’, can be moved using wooden poles that are carried from the old place to the new one.
The ‘bahay-kubo’ house is not very heavy which means that a group of people can lift and carry it on their shoulders. The relocation does not only involve moving the family’s personal belongings but most importantly it concerns the transfer of the family’s entire house to a new location.
Able-bodied men usually participated in such feats, while women stood and watched, casually chatting and cheering the men on. Afterward, there was a small gathering as a form of celebration and socialization.
The Bayanihan tradition was practiced when people wish to move locations in the rural area. This was done for several reasons but mainly to avoid impending floods or landslides.
The Bayanihan derived from the Filipino word “bayan”, which means nation, town, or community. The term bayanihan itself literally means “being in a bayan”, which refers to the spirit of communal unity, work, and cooperation to achieve a particular goal.
The Bayanihan spirit is still alive, at least to some extent. There are still people in rural areas that transfer their house into another place and people still help. Unfortunately, the Bayanihan tradition is slowly dying out. It is not practiced as frequently as before.
This is mainly due to the change of environment, from wooden slit-houses to concrete infrastructures. The rural areas have adapted more and more to the urban jungles. People’s attitudes and disposition have also changed. Those who want to keep the ancient Bayanihan tradition alive complain modern people are selfish and it becomes harder and harder to create and sustain group efforts.
Written by – A. Sutherland AncientPages.com Staff Writer
Copyright © AncientPages.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of AncientPages.com
Expand for referencesReferences:
More From Ancient Pages
-
8,000-Year-Old T-Shaped, Four-Sided Structure With Pyramidion – Uncovered in Turkey
Archaeology | Nov 23, 2019
-
Abu Erteila’s Lost Temple And The Meroitic Empire: New Discoveries Shed Light On Nubian Civilization
Archaeology | Jan 14, 2016
-
Runes: Facts And History About Odin’s Secret Language
Ancient History Facts | Jan 27, 2016
-
Remarkable Complex Of Early Neolithic Monuments Discovered In Herefordshire, England
Archaeology | Jul 21, 2023
-
2,000 Years Ago Mysterious Foreigner With Unique Ancestry Traveled To Cambridgeshire – Who Was He?
Archaeology | Dec 27, 2023
-
2,000-Year Old Engraved Kurdistan Tablet Referring To A Hellenistic Ruler Demetrius – Analyzed
Archaeology | Dec 14, 2020
-
Treasure Coins Dated To 15th And 16th Century Unearthed In Historical Region Of Slovakia
Archaeology | Apr 17, 2019
-
Where Were Herod The Great’s Royal Alabaster Bathtubs Quarried?
Archaeology | May 17, 2022
-
Shepherd’s Monument Mystery: Yet Another Undeciphered Inscription
Featured Stories | Jun 26, 2023
-
INAH Researchers Deciphered Hieroglyphs And Identified 14 Maya Rulers In Ancient City Of Cobá, Mexico
Archaeology | Jul 29, 2020
-
Rare Ancient Clothes And Shoes Found Under The Ice At The Lost Lendbreen Mountain Pass
Featured Stories | Feb 9, 2023
-
Bronze Age Human Remains Uncovered In Dorset During Excavation Of Iron Age Settlement
Archaeology | Jul 10, 2023
-
Eikthyrnir – Mythical Male Deer And Heidrun She-Goat Stand On The Top Of Valhalla
Featured Stories | Feb 11, 2019
-
Ancient Indian Text Re-Writes History Of Number Zero And Mathematics
Archaeology | Sep 15, 2017
-
Gengen Wer – Goose God Who Guarded The Celestial Egg Containing The Life Force In Egyptian Beliefs
Featured Stories | Apr 22, 2021
-
Third-Century Inscription Related To Dionysus Cult – Discovered
Archaeology | Jul 16, 2019
-
Ancient Warming Event May Have Been Trigged By Changes In Earth’s Orbit
Archaeology | Dec 13, 2022
-
Mystery Of The Ancient Forgotten Mizoram Civilization And Lost City Of Vangchhia
Civilizations | Jun 16, 2020
-
Who Can Solve The Shackleton Scribble Mystery?
Artifacts | Sep 13, 2017
-
King Lud – Mysterious Founder Of London And His Connection To The Tuatha De Danann
Featured Stories | Oct 21, 2021