Marinduque Anitos, Idols

A standing Bulol of Ifugao

Bulol, the Ifugao anito, is a carved human figure considered as a rice god and usually kept in the house or rice granary. It is said that there are steps involved in the making of a bulol, from selecting the tree to be used, to its arrival at the owner's house, to rituals involving bathing it in pig's blood, recitations and offerings of wine. There are claims that bulol is actually used by using the image as an object to ritually transfer the sickness of the afflicted to the statue and that the bulol is kept in granaries to drive away thieves. There is a belief that contact with the bulol used for this purpose could cause the sickness to be transferred to such thieves.

MARINDUQUE ANITOS

Anitos, idols, very much similar to the bulol have also been unearthed from various Marinduque caves. Together with skeletons, various gold ornaments, ancient pottery and wooden coffins with crocodile images carved into them, pre-Hispanic artifacts found in Marinduque has opened up a vast world of speculation.

Illustrations of a few anitos found in Pamintaan Cave, Torrijos.

Replica of one anito referred to as Pastores in the Marche journals, said to have been found in Gasan.

These anitos have inspired local cultural groups to incorporate these idols in dance-drama presentations only during the last decade.

The local anito featured here in "Bulong" dance-drama first presented in Gasan in 2002.