THE LEGEND OF THE ORIGIN OF MAKAHIYA

Pinoy Legend Story - The Origin of Makahiya

Maria, a very shy girl, lived with her parents Mang Dondong and Aling Iska, in a small village. Maria would spend hours tending to her garden, which was renowned for its lovely flowers.

One day, bandits raided the village, and fearing for her life, Maria's parents hid her in the garden.

While Aling Iska was praying to God for her daughter's safety, the bandits broke into the house and hit them both on the head. After pillaging the house, the bandits fled.

When Mang Dondong and Aling Iska regained consciousness, they ran to the garden to look for Maria, but couldn't find her.

They searched for her everywhere, and started to despair, when something pricked Mang Dondong's feet. Both of them knelt down to take a better look at the tiny plant closing its leaves.

At that moment they realized, that their shy Maria has been transformed by the Gods into the plant.

They named the plant Makahiya (Tagalog for shyness) and took immense care of it.