Beginning date 1937 | Completion date 1939 | |
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Location City Plaza, Poblacion 5, Calamba, Laguna | ||
CALAMBANGA, also known as the Calamba Jar or Calamba Claypot, is a famous landmark in Calamba, Laguna, Philippines believed to be the largest claypot in the world. It is located at the City Plaza near Calamba Church and Rizal Shrine. Built in 1937, it is constructed to illustrate and immortalize the folk tale on how the city got its name with the names of the city's barangays inscribed on its surface. The giant claypot can also be found in the city's official seal.
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Etymology
The large claypot in the city plaza named CALAMBANGA is derived from the two words kalan and banga from which the city obtained its name. According to legend of early settlers, two guardia civil or Spanish soldiers approached a young woman who was carrying a jar of water and a stove. One of the Spanish soldier asked the woman for the name of the town. Since the woman cannot understand Spanish, she thought that the soldiers were asking her what she was carrying. She utterly answered, "kalan-banga" which means clay stove and clay pot., The Spaniards who was unable to pronounce Tagalog correctly, assumed that the place is named Kalambanga. Later on, Kalambanga was shortened to Calamba.
History
The plaza was proposed by Dr. Agapito Alzona, then town councilor to utilize the waste area where the old town market relocated from. The resolution was approved by the then town mayor Roman Lazaro and added additional P5,000 for the fence to the original P15,000 construction cost. The giant claypot was built in 1937 and completed in 1939.