Tugging rituals and games in the rice-farming cultures in East and Southeast Asia are enacted among communities to ensure abundant harvests and prosperity. They promote social solidarity, provide entertainment and mark the start of a new agricultural cycle. Many tugging rituals and games also have profound religious significance.
In the Philippines, the Punnuk of the Ifugao has been around for at least a thousand years but has only been revived about 20 years ago.
Both the local and national governments are exerting efforts to help organize the punnuk to further ensure community involvement and
to further preserve the punnuk tradition and the culture of the people as a whole.
Dive into the Philippines’ intangible cultural heritage!
