Darangen

rdf:langString Darangen

rdf:langString When you pass by the houses of the Maranaws at night, you can hear them singing folk songs or reciting poems that are beautiful and strange. Yet on account of the absence of a Maranaw writer, Maranaw literature has remained in the dark for other people. It has become something of a tale that other Filipino tribes hear only from visitors to Lanao

rdf:langString Darangen is a Maranao epic poem from the Lake Lanao region of Mindanao, Philippines. It consists of 17 cycles with 72,000 lines in iambic tetrameter or catalectic trochaic tetrameter. Each cycle pertains to a different self-contained story. The most notable of which deals with the exploits of the hero Bantugan. In 2002, the Darangen was declared a National Cultural Treasure of the Philippines by the National Museum and a Provincial Treasure by the Lanao del Sur provincial government. The Darangen epic was also proclaimed as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2005 by UNESCO (inscribed in 2008). It is the longest surviving epic poetry in the Philippines. Darangen is meant to be narrated by singing or chanting. Select parts of it are performed by male and female singers during weddings and celebrations (traditionally at night time), usually accompanied by music from kulintang gong ensembles, Tambor drums, and kudyapi stringed instruments. It is also traditionally accompanied by several dances, each interpreting specific episodes of the epic. Depending on the part being performed, the performance can last a few hours to a week. The epic also incorporates Maranao customary laws, social values, and practices prior to the Maranao conversion to Islam in the 14th century.