The Legends of the Sarimanok

If there’s a symbol that the Maranao people in the Philippines are associated with, it’s
the Sarimanok. Sarimanok is an important part of the Maranao people’s cultural
heritage, it is invoked in many rituals and it showcases their unique artistic geniuses. 

The Maranao tribe is from the Mindanao island in the southern part of the Philippines
and even before the arrival of the Spaniards in the country, they had their own culture,
language, beliefs and arts. And the Sarimanok, with its beautiful and colourful
feathers, is frequently depicted in their artistic, decorative and architectural designs.
The word Sarimanok comes from “Sari” which means a garment of different colours,
and “manok”, which means rooster. The figure of sarimanok is normally characterised
by its colourful feathers, scroll, leaf and other motifs on its head, and the fish that it
carries on its talons or in its beak.

The origin of the sarimanok is not known, but it is widely featured in numerous
legends.

According to one legend, once upon a time, there was a prince named Rajah
Indarapatra who fell in love with the moon goddess who came to earth every Friday to
bathe in a scented well.  The prince knew that they couldn’t be together because the
moon goddess was not from this world. He fell into deep despair, then one day while
he was carving a rooster made of wood, he challenged it to take him to the moon. The
rooster, with beautiful feathers, came alive and flew the prince to the moon to be with
his beloved. The prince was never seen again.

Another legend says that the Maranaos, who are predominantly Muslim, believed that
when the Prophet Muhammad went to the seven heavens, he found the rooster in the
first heaven and it was so large that its crest touches the second heaven. Legend says
that the crow wakes up all living creatures except man, and it is believed that
Judgement day comes when the rooster stops crowing.

However, there is also a legend that states that the existence of sarimanok started pre-
Islamic beliefs.  According to the Maranaos,  the Sarimanok is their totem bird named
Itotoro which has a twin-spirit, Inikadowa.  When Rajah Indarpatra married a water
nymph, they had two sons: one who can be seen and the other, unseen. Seen became
the ancestors of the modern-day Maranao people and Unseen is the spirit that they pay
tribute to during rituals and rites. These two brothers made a pact that they will always
protect each other from bad spirits and they chose the Sarimanok to be their totem
bird and through the help of its twin, Inikadowa, it became the link between the seen
and the unseen worlds. The fish on the beak of the Sarimanok symbolises the food
that the Maranao people offer to the spirit world.

No matter what the origin was, the Sarimanok is highly revered by the Maranaos and
has become an integral part of their culture and widely present in their artistic and
architectural designs, rituals, dance and festivals. The Maranaos believe that the
Sarimanok will bring them good fortune and if the spirits are pleased, they will have a
bountiful harvest.  And what started as a cultural heritage from the south of the
Philippines has already been adopted by the whole country and nowadays, it has
become one of its enduring symbols.