“It’s creepy. It’s eerie. And why would I like my photos taken underground with the dead? Pang- IG ba?”, my daughter asked me.
“Then let’s see”, I said.
My daughters stayed inside the car while hubby and I together with some friends crossed the street from the gasoline station where we parked. “Ayaw talaga!”
Greeted us is the baroque arched gate and stoned walls embellished with iron grills. There’s this “Intramuros feels” in it and I said this is a good spot where I can I have my photos taken. “Finally, mapapalitan na ang Cover Photo!”
It’s 9 am and there was no other tourist except us. Somebody approached us, which I believed from the tourism office because he acts as our tour guide and lead us inside the church which is a chamber.
After death.
A photo gallery entitled “Recuerdos de Patay” is strategically located inside the church. Reading at the information about the “Recuerdos de Patay”, it says that the photos are a good source on reconstructing the people’s mental template on death and afterlife. The photos show not only the culture’s valuing of afterlife (ie. kabilang buhay), but also the deep perception by Filipino about life as whole.
Napaisip ako dun.
Underworld.
Domed ceiling, bricks, adobe and river stoned walls in complex patterns can be seen inside the chamber. And yes, from the stairs going down the chamber made me chill a bit. I feel like I am a character from a movie about underworld, occult, and exorcism. My husband has been telling me, “mabigat ano? na-feel mo yun?”
I guess he was referring to that creepy feeling. It was dark, and the thought of being inside a cemetery with the remains of dead people in the 18th century is something not fun, but scary. “Pinoy eh!”
After a test shot from my mobile phone, the lighting is just perfect. “Picture-an na!”
Not your ordinary cemetery.
Dubbed as the only underground cemetery in the country, the Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery or the Libingan sa Ilalim ng Lupa ng Nagcarlan is a national historical landmark and museum in Brgy. Bambang, Nagcarlan Laguna supervised by the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.
Built in 1845 and was established as a public burial site. But despite of its being a public cemetery, its underground crypt is exclusively for Spanish friars and elite Catholic family during that time.
There are no entrance fees to pay. The Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery is open on Tuesdays to Sundays 8:00am to 4:00pm.
Pwede bang magpicture? Yes. You may take photos but these should be for your personal use only. No flash photography allowed.
