Philippine mythology is the body of myths, tales, and superstitions held by Filipinos, mostly originating from beliefs held during the pre-Hispanic era. Some of these beliefs stem from pre-Christian religion that was specially influenced by the Hind...
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According to the indigenous religious beliefs of the Tagalog people, Bathala (sometimes spelled Batala) is the all-mighty deity who created the universe. A descriptive honorific is often attached to his name, describing him as the Bathalang Maylicha (Bathala the Creator; lit. "Actor of Creation") and as the Bathalang Maycapal (Bathala the Almighty; lit. "Actor of Power").
It was after the arrival of the Spanish missionaries on the Philippines in the 16th century that Bathala came to be identified as the Christian God, thus its synonymy with Diyos (God) or Dibino (Divine, e.g. Mabathalang Awa), according to J.V. Panganiban (Diksyunaryo-Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles); in some Visayan languages, Bathala also means God.
In early Philippine history, Bathala was strongly associated with the Tigmamanukan omen bird - so much so that early chronicler Antonio de Morga thought the Tagalogs saw the bird as their ultimate deity. The anonymous author of the Boxer Codex (1590 b, 379) also nearly made this mistake, but was advised by the Tagalogs not to equate the two, because the Tigmamanukan was not the creator god "but only his messenger."
Etymology
The spelling of the name "Bathala" given by Pedro Chirino in "Relación de las Islas Filipinas" (1595-1602) was perhaps a combination of two different spellings of the name from older documents such as "Badhala" in "Relacion de las Costumbres de Los Tagalos" (1589, Juan de Plasencia) and "Batala" in "Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas" (1582, Miguel de Loarca), the latter was supposedly the correct spelling in Tagalog since the letter "h" was silent in Spanish. Bathala or Batala was apparently derived from Sanskrit "bhattara" (noble lord) which appeared as the sixteenth-century title "batara" in the southern Philippines and Borneo. In Indonesian language, "batara" means "god", its feminine counterpart was "batari". It may be worth noting that in Malay, "betara" means holy, and was applied to the greater Hindu gods in Java, and was also assumed by the ruler of Majapahit.
Other Names
Since the name Bathala was Sanskrit in origin, some scholars such as Isabelo de los Reyes believed that Maykapál ("Creator") was the indigenous term for the Supreme Being of the Tagalogs. Dr. José Rizal doubted that the Tagalog god was named Bathala. Most historians and scholars however accepted that the god was properly called Bathalang Maykapál ("God the Creator") as stated in Relación de las Islas Filipinas (1595-1602), and could be addressed simply as Bathala (God) or Maykapál (Creator). According to William Henry Scott (Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippines Culture and Society); "Loarca and Chirino said that the Tagalogs recognised a creator god they called Bathala (Batala) though other informants named the god of the Tagalogs as "Molayri" (Molaiari) or "Diwata" (Dioata)". Some scholars believed Molayri was actually May-ari ("owner"), however it could also be May-yari which means "One that made". "Diwata" was also a name of the Supreme Being in other Filipino ethnic tribes and languages. Linguists trace the origin of the term diwata to Hindu term Devata (Devanagari: देवता), which also refers to deities. The word Bathala came from Javanese Sri Batara Guru which also known as "Shiva" in Hinduism.
