"Nagcarlan, My Father-In-Law's Hometown " a Nagcarlan Travel Page by cyndymc

Nagcarlan is a 4th class municipality in the province of Laguna, 99 kilometers south of Manila through San Pablo City. With its territories crossing the foot of Mt. Banahaw and Mt. Cristobal, Nagcarlan is considered the biggest of the upland towns of Laguna. It has rich natural resources including the Bunga Falls and a cool climate (slightly higher than Baguio City), gifting the industrious locals with an abundance of rice, coconuts, coffee, bananas, root crops, vegetables and lanzones. Nagcarlan has now, in fact become the biggest supplier of sweet lanzones in the Metropolis, besting nearby town of Paete.

Mention Nagcarlan, and immediately, the images associated with it are the famous Nagcarlan Underground Cemetery and the centuries-old St. Bartholomew Church.

My father-in-law related stories to us about Nagcarlan's past.

From the vestiges of the battle between the Spanish colonizers led by Don Salcedo and the local tribes led by Gat Laquiao rose a new community through the help of a highly placed native called Kalang Panalangin. She was converted into Christianity by the Spanish missionaries and baptized as Ana Panalangin, but was lovingly called Ana Kalang by the villagers who respected her. She was famous for her gold-tipped “salakot”(a native hat) and cane said to have elaborate patterns made of solid gold.

To honor Ana Kalang, who helped rebuild the village though her wealth and acts of charity, the parish priest assigned to the village, Padre Cristobal Torres named the place after her. As the name Ana Kalang was passed on from one Spanish to another, then to a local to another and so on, for years the name later became "Nagkarlang", and much later, "Nagcarlan".