Religion in the pre-colonial Philippines

There is little evidence remaining of the nature of religion in Middle Ages of the Philippines. The possibilities include animism, Philippine mythologies such as Anito, and influences from Hinduism or Buddhism. The earliest pieces of evidence that exist are archaeological finds including Hinduist or Buddhist gold statues. The earliest written evidence comes from the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, dated to around 900 CE, which uses the Buddhist-Hindu lunar calendar. With the arrival of Islam in the 14th century, the older religions gradually disappeared, and after the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 Christianity became the dominant religion. However, some of the indigenous Philippine tribes continue to practice animism today, and many of the traditions in Anito have been Christianized and turned into Folk Catholicism.

Ancient artifacts

The Philippines's archaeological finds include many ancient gold artifacts.[1][2] Most of them have been dated to belong to the 9th century.

The artifacts reflect the iconography of the Srivijaya empire’s Vajrayana Buddhism and its influences on the Philippines’s early states.[3] The artifacts’s distinct features point to their production in the islands. It is probable that they were made locally because archaeologist Peter Bellwood discovered the existence of an ancient goldsmith’s shop that made the 20-centuries-old lingling-o, or omega-shaped gold ornaments in Batanes.

The Golden Tara was discovered in 1918 in Esperanza, Agusan by Bilay Campos a Manobo tribeswoman.[4] The Golden Tara was eventually brought to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, Illinois in 1922. Henry Otley Beyer, the Philippines’s pioneer anthropologist-archaeologist, and some experts have agreed on its identity and have dated it to belong within 900-950 CE. They can not place, however, its provenance because it has distinct features.[5]

The golden-vessel kinnari was found in 1981 in Surigao. The kinnari exists in both Buddhist and Hindu mythology. In Buddhism, the kinnari, a half-human and half-bird creature, represents enlightened action. The Buddhist Lotus Sutra mentions the kinnari as the celestial musician in the Himavanta realm. The kinnari takes the form of a centaur, however, in India's epic poem, the Mahabharata, and in the Veda's Purana part.

The other finds are the garuda, the mythical bird that is common to Buddhism and Hinduism, and several Padmapani images. Padmapani is also known as Avalokitesvara, the wisdom being or Bodhisattva of Compassion.

First record

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI) is the most significant archaeological discovery in the Philippines because it serves as the first written record of the Philippine nation. The LCI mentions a debt pardon for a person, Namwaran, and his descendants by the chieftain of Tundun (now Tondo, Manila) on the fourth day after Vaisakha, in the Saka year 822, which has been estimated to correspond to 21 April 900 CE. Vaisakha is a date in the old Buddhist-Hindu lunar calendar.

Antoon Postma, an anthropologist and an expert in ancient Javanese literature, has deciphered the LCI and he says it records a combination of old Kavi (an ancient Javanese language), old Tagalog (a Philippines dialect), and Sanskrit.[6]

The LCI's transliteration,

Swasti Shaka warsatita 822 Waisaka masa di(ng) Jyotisa. Caturthi Krisnapaksa somawara sana tatkala Dayang Angkatan lawan dengan nya sanak barngaran si Bukah anak da dang Hwan Namwaran dibari waradana wi shuddhapattra ulih sang pamegat senapati di Tundun barja(di) dang Hwan Nayaka tuhan Pailah Jayadewa. Di krama dang Hwan Namwaran dengan dang kayastha shuddha nu diparlappas hutang da walenda Kati 1 Suwarna 8 dihadapan dang Huwan Nayaka tuhan Puliran Kasumuran. dang Hwan Nayaka tuhan Pailah barjadi ganashakti. Dang Hwan Nayaka tuhan Binwangan barjadi bishruta tathapi sadana sanak kapawaris ulih sang pamegat dewata (ba)rjadi sang pamegat Medang dari bhaktinda diparhulun sang pamegat. Ya makanya sadanya anak cucu dang Hwan Namwaran shuddha ya kapawaris dihutang da dang Hwan Namwaran di sang pamegat Dewata. Ini grang syat syapanta ha pashkat ding ari kamudyan ada grang urang barujara welung lappas hutang da dang Hwa

The LCI's English translation,

Long Live! Year of Saka 822, month of Vaisakha, according to Jyotisha. The fourth day of the waning moon, Monday. On this occasion, Lady Angkatan, and her brother whose name is Bukah, the children of the Honourable Namwaran, were awarded a document of complete pardon from the Commander in Chief of Tundun, represented by the Lord Minister of Pailah, Jayadewa. By this order, through the scribe, the Honourable Namwaran has been forgiven of all and is released from his debts and arrears of 1 Katî and 8 Suwarna before the Honourable Lord Minister of Puliran, Kasumuran, by the authority of the Lord Minister of Pailah. Because of his faithful service as a subject of the Chief, the Honourable and widely renowned Lord Minister of Binwangan recognized all the living relatives of Namwaran who were claimed by the Chief of Dewata, represented by the Chief of Medang. Yes, therefore the living descendants of the Honourable Namwaran are forgiven, indeed, of any and all debts of the Honourable Namwaran to the Chief of Dewata. This, in any case, shall declare to whomever henceforth that on some future day should there be a man who claims that no release from the debt of the Honourable...

Rise of Islam

The arrival of Muslims changed the demographics of the Philippines. Before 1521, Maynilad (now Manila) was divided into Muslim domains under Rajah Suleyman and Rajah Matanda in the south (now the Intramuros district) and the Buddhist-Hindu settlement under Raja Lakandula in northern Tundun (now Tondo.)[7] With the rise of Islam, other religions in the archipelago gradually disappeared.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Jesus T. Peralta, "Prehistoric Gold Ornaments CB Philippines," Arts of Asia, 1981, 4:54-60.
  2. ↑ Art Exhibit: Philippines' 'Gold of Ancestors' in Newsweek.
  3. ↑ Laszlo Legeza, “Tantric Elements in the Philippines PreHispanic Gold Arts,” Arts of Asia, 1988, 4:129-136.
  4. ↑ Agusan Gold Image only in the Philippines.
  5. ↑ Agusan Image Documents, Agusan-Surigao Historical Archives.
  6. ↑ Antoon Postma, “The Laguna Copperplate Inscription,” Philippines Studies, 1992 40: 183-203.
  7. ↑ Teodoro Agoncillo, History of the Filipino People, p 22

External links

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