See also: Anito

15th century bulul with a pamahan (ceremonial bowl) in the Louvre Museum

Wooden images of the ancestors in a museum in Bontoc, Mountain Province, Philippines

Bulul, also known as bul-ul or tinagtaggu, is a carved wooden figure used to guard the rice crop by
the Ifugao (and their sub-tribe Kalanguya) peoples of northern Luzon. The sculptures are highly
stylized representations of ancestors and are thought to gain power from the presence of the
ancestral spirit.[1] The Ifugao are particularly noted for their skill in carving bulul. [2]

Contents

 1Use
 2Form
 3Images
 4See also
 5References

Use[edit]
Bulul are used in ceremonies associated with rice production and with healing. Creation of a bulul
involves alwen bulul ritual by a priest to ensure that the statue gains power. The bulul is treated with
care and respect to avoid the risk of the spirits of the ancestors bringing sickness. The figures are
placed together with the rice in the house or granaries to bring a plentiful harvest. Bulul is important
to ifugaos because they believe they can protect and multiply the rice and help make the harvest
abundant.
Form[edit]
Male and female Bulul statues are often found together, with sex-related symbols such as the mortar
for the female and pestle for the male.[3] Male bulul may sometimes be depicted with loincloth, and
females with tapis (wrap skirts), earrings and anklets.[4] Although the form varies, the bulul is
commonly represented as seated on the ground, with arms crossed over his upraised knees. [5] The
bulul has a simplified form, and is traditionally carved from narra or ipil wood. The bulul is touched by
hands dipped in blood of a chicken or pig in ritual called tunod during the rice planting season.[4] Over
time the blood imparts a dark color to the figures, overlaid with a patina of grease from food
offerings.[6] Bulul are handed down to the first child of a family. Typically the older statues have beetle
holes made by insects in the granary.[7]
Bulul are nowadays mostly manufactured for the tourist trade, but a local family may buy such a
bulul and use it for ceremonial purposes, thus in a sense adding authenticity.[6] However, an Ifugao
former "mumbaki" (shaman) stated that the last traditional rituals were held in the 1960s. [8] Some of
the carvers, such as Rey Paz Contreras, have become well-known artists, with their work exhibited
and sold widely in the western world. Contreras uses discarded wood from the railways for his
carvings of Bulul and other Anito (guardian deity) figures.[9]