PH
The Lawit is a distinctive Ibaloy agricultural rite from Benguet.
It is performed when strong winds bend the growing palay. A chicken is traditionally butchered as an offering to the spirits associated with the rice.
Traditional belief held that the spirit of the palay might have been blown away to another place.
The ceremony therefore responds to a very specific agricultural event rather than a general annual celebration. It demonstrates how weather, farming, and spiritual beliefs were closely connected in traditional Ibaloy culture.
Lawit is one of the many highly specific agricultural practices documented in the Philippine Intangible Cultural Heritage Inventory.
© NCCA — TALAPAMANA