THE LEGEND OF MARIA CRISTINA FALLS

Once a upon a time, Lake Lanao in hands of Omaca-An, A giant monster, eating human beings and animals and even fishes in the water. There were thus a few people around the lake because of the monster that ate everything he saw. Many years passed when Rajah Indarapatra came with his beloved brother Rajah Solaiman. Rajah Solaiman was the first to come and he fought the giant but was killed. Rajah Indarapatra followed, looking for his brother Solaiman. Indarapatra encountered the giant Omaca-an and killed the giant man eater. On land, he looked for the ring of his brother by asking the small and b ig animals he met. On water, however, he went swimming everyday and gathered both big and small stones beneath the water. He stayed for several years along the shores of the lake, but still he did not find the ring. He constructed an irrigation system that went very far and covered a big distance which later became a river (now the Agus River). The river had a portion which dropped down a deep ravine now the Maria Cristina Falls.

Many years passed, and there lived in Maria Cristina Falls two loving sisters, namely : Maria the younger and Cristina the elder. These two beautiful ladies loved each other very much. Maria gazed everything she had to Cristina, her beloved sister. Many People knew they were the ones living near the falls. They also loved their neighbor as they loved themselves. Datus and Sultans came to ask for their hands in marriage but the sister refused. There was a man, however, son of a prominent Sultan living somewhere beside the Lake Lanao. For many years he was unhappy because he could not find a suitable partner. He roamed around the lake until he saw the two maidens of the falls. He fell in love with the two sisters but the two sisters did not know whom he really loved. Many days passed and Maria discovered that she loved him very much, which made her very sad and she went to the top of the falls and jumped. When Cristina found out the Maria was dead, she likewise went to the top of the falls and threw herself down the deep ravine. When the handsome young man discovered the situation and found the bodies, he buried them carefully under the falls. After the death of the two sisters, he never married until also died. He also named the falls, Maria Cristina after the two sister he loved.

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Source: The Legend of of Maria Cristina Falls
by Victoria J Adeva