Lanao del Sur

Islam reached Lake Lanao by the 16th century at the latest, carried by traders and teachers from the Maguindanao and Sulu sultanates; the Darangen article dates the Maranao conversion as early as the 14th century. The Maranao organized their political life around a confederation of four royal houses — the Pat a Pangampong ko Ranao — that coordinated resistance against outside powers for centuries.

The 2017 fighting destroyed much of central Marawi, including mosques, historic houses and markets. The most affected area has been rebuilt in stages in the years since.

The Maranao are known throughout the Philippines for okir — a geometric and flowing design tradition applied to carved wood, woven cloth (malong and langkit), brasswork, and architecture. Okir is not decoration alone; each motif carries meaning, and the craft is tied to social rank and identity. The most recognizable motif is the naga (serpent) and the pako rabong (unfurling fern), rendered in deep reds, golds, and blacks.

The Torogan

The torogan is the traditional house of Maranao royalty — a single large structure set on massive wooden posts, with elaborately carved panolong (literally "prow") extending from the beam ends, often carved with the naga serpent, so that the house looks like a royal boat afloat. Torogans are among the finest examples of indigenous Philippine architecture. Several remain standing in lakeshore municipalities, though many were damaged or destroyed in the 2017 siege and its aftermath.

Kulintang music — an ensemble of gong-chime instruments — is central to Maranao ceremonial life. The instruments range from the large agung gongs to the smaller kulintang row. Skilled players improvise within set melodic modes, and performance is a social and ritual event as much as a musical one.

Maranao cuisine is built around the lake's freshwater fish, highland vegetables, coconut milk, and the pungent spice blend called palapa. The food is sharper and more aromatic than most Philippine regional cooking — less sweet, more layered with heat and sour notes. Pork is absent; the province is halal by default.

Maranao is the primary language of Lanao del Sur. An Austronesian language closely related to Iranun and Maguindanao, it is spoken by nearly the entire population of the province. Maranao has its own literary tradition written in Arabic script (Jawi) as well as a romanized orthography adopted during the American period.

Arabic in Daily Life

Arabic holds a central place in religious practice and education in Lanao del Sur. Madrassas (Islamic schools) teach Quranic Arabic alongside the national curriculum. Many common Maranao words, particularly those related to religion, law, and formal address, derive directly from Arabic.

Filipino and English are the official languages of instruction in public schools, but Maranao is the language of the home, the market, the mosque, and public life in most of the province. After the 2017 siege, community members displaced to other parts of Mindanao and Manila formed Maranao-speaking enclaves, maintaining the language in diaspora.

Check current official travel advisories before visiting Marawi City and Lanao del Sur. Central Marawi was heavily damaged in 2017 and has since been rebuilt in stages. Lake Lanao and the lakeshore municipalities are places of great beauty and cultural interest.

Lake Lanao

At about 340 square kilometers and some 700 meters above sea level, Lake Lanao is the largest lake in Mindanao and the second-largest and deepest in the Philippines, and one of the 15 ancient lakes of the world. Dawn on the lake — mist on the water, mosques on the shore — is one of the more remarkable sights in Mindanao. Boat access is from several lakeshore municipalities.

Torogan Houses of the Lakeshore Municipalities

Several municipalities around Lake Lanao retain traditional Maranao royal houses (torogan). These structures — massive, intricately carved, set on large posts — are among the finest surviving examples of indigenous Philippine architecture. Visiting requires local contacts and community permission.

Lake Lanao, in the heart of the province, is one of the 15 ancient lakes of the world, about 340 square kilometers in area and up to 112 meters deep. Its outflow, the Agus River, feeds the hydroelectric plants that generate about 70 percent of Mindanao's electricity, and a lake regulation dam at Marawi was built in 1978. The lake was home to 17 endemic Barbodes fish, thought to have evolved there over 10,000 to 20,000 years, but by 2020, 15 were regarded as extinct, lost to overfishing, pollution and introduced species. The lake also supports large numbers of waterfowl, and a freshwater crab, Sundathelphusa wolterecki, is endemic to the region.

What Remained of Marawi

In October 2017, five months after Maute Group fighters first occupied sections of Marawi City, the Philippine military declared the battle over. By then, the ground battle — the longest urban combat operation in Philippine history — had leveled most of the old city center. Mosques, schools, market stalls, ancestral homes: the destruction was nearly total in the affected zone.

Hundreds of thousands of people had fled; about 90 percent of Marawi's residents had been evacuated, and counts of the displaced across the region run as high as 1.1 million. They went to evacuation centers in Iligan and Cagayan de Oro, to relatives' homes across Mindanao, to urban apartments in Manila. The city's fabric merchants, its silversmiths, its teachers at MSU-Marawi — all displaced. A city of roughly 200,000 people had been hollowed out in five months.

In the years since, the most affected area has been rebuilt in stages. For families displaced in 2017, coming home has meant returning to a city that looks different from the one they left. What carries over is the Maranao way of life around the lake: the language, the textiles and brasswork, the mosques, and the music.