A torogan is a traditional ancestral house built by the Maranao people of Lanao, Mindanao, Philippines for the nobility. A torogan was a symbol of high social status. Such a residence was once a home to a sultan or datu in the Maranao community. Nowadays, concrete houses are found all over Maranaw communities, but there remain torogans a hundred years old. The best-known are in Dayawan and Marawi City, and around Lake Lanao.
A torogan, c. 1908-1924
Detail of a panolong with a naga ("sea serpent") motif, from the National Museum of Anthropology. These were originally painted in bright primary colors.
Model of a torogan at the Cockington Green Gardens
The Maranao people, also spelled Meranao, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is a predominantly Muslim Filipino ethnic group native to the region around Lanao Lake in the island of Mindanao. They are known for their artwork, weaving, wood, plastic and metal crafts and epic literature, the Darangen. They are ethnically and culturally closely related to the Iranun, and Maguindanaon, all three groups being denoted as speaking Danao languages and giving name to the island of Mindanao. They are grouped with other Moro people due to their shared religion.
Maranao people
The shores of Lake Lanao is the center of Maranao society.
Maranao "Man of War"
Woodcarving of the Sarimanok with okir motifs
