Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan

BURIGADANG PADA SINAKLANG BULAWAN
GODDESS OF GREED

Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan
as portrayed by Katrina Halili
GMA Network's INDIO, 2013
Photo Credit: Dencio Isungga

Wealth and greed go hand in hand, and both are under the special guidance of the "golden deity" of the Visayan pantheon, Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan (her name usually means Coveted Gold, Desired/Precious Gold), the goddess of greed. Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan is more known to the masses as the wife of Humadapnon, one of the three heroic sons of Alunsina in the epic poem, Hinilawod. She is one of the "Three Great Beauties", a triad of sister-goddesses who descended from Maklium sa T'wan (in some oral traditions it was said that Maklium sa T'wan was grandfather, in some he is actually her mother when his female form seduced and mated with a human datu in a mining cave) She is portrayed in the stories, as a goddess who rose from the earth with beautiful golden tanned skin, a seductive body clothed in rich golden fabrics and precious minerals and gems and a face of perfection, and it was said that her aura was also "golden" that no man can resist her and her charms. She is the sister of Nagmalitong Yawa Sinagmaling Diwata, the goddess of lust and Lubay Lubyok Mahanginun si Mahuyokhuyokan goddess of the night breeze, her uncles are Panlinugon, the god of earthquakes and of Tungkung Langit, the Pillar of Heaven whose wife is Luyong Kabig, the goddess of snakes, who is also her aunt. 

PUNISHER OF THE GREEDY 

Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan
as portrayed by Katrina Halili
GMA Network's INDIO, 2013
Photo Credit: @joanneloya

She is both venerated and feared at the same time by the ancient Visayans, because this goddess holds power over precious metals and stones and also greed. It was said that she loves punishing the greedy, her mere breath can evoke emotions of greed and jealousy to a mortal and through this she was seen as an avenger goddess, who dispenses punishment to those who are greedy, especially thieves. In Hinilawod, she made her greedy suitors fight with each other to the death, and only did her curse stop when Humadapnon championed all of her suitors and carried her away. She is sometimes depicted to be in the company of dwendes(dwarves) in a house of gold outside human settlement, they are earth spirits who knows the secrets of the earth, and it was believed that the goddess' touch can turn anything to gold, thus that makes her an important deity to metalsmiths, miners, jewelmakers.

Her association with wealth and earthly abundance makes her a popular deity during weddings, in which the guests in attendance give toast and blessings to the groom and his bride, placing the newlyweds under the guidance of Burigadang Sinaklang Bulawan, that they may flourish also in material goods in their married life. Although she was not as heavily worshipped compared to other diwatas due to her title as the goddess of greed, she is venerated as a chief deity during wedding ceremonies, and the early laws against thievery were made with her in mind, and small trinkets of her image, made of gold or silver were made for travellers to carry with them to avoid being ambushed by robbers along the way, sure that Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan may curse the wrongdoers for the rest of their mortal lives.

Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan in GMA Network's Indio, 2013
Sketch artist: James/Squeegool
http://squeegool.deviantart.com/

EVOLUTION OF IMPORTANCE THROUGH SPANISH INFLUENCE

The veneration and fear of Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan were dissuaded by the Spanish colonists and instead told the natives to believe in the Catholic faith, they also had the natives baptized by the Spanish priests and told them to destroy the shrines of their deities. However, fear is sometimes much more stronger than faith, and even if a lot of the natives started to turn to the Catholicism, they still believe that Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan walks among them, ready to dispense her own brand of justice to the greedy and evil-hearted.

Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan
as portrayed by Katrina Halili
GMA Network's INDIO, 2013
Photo Credit: Michelle Amog

RELATED STORIES

THE ORIGIN OF THE ANGGITAY (the Philippine Kentauride or the female centaur)
Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl named Angga (means " love" in visayan). She was a descendant of a datu who was punished by Lubay Lubyok ni Mahuyokhuyokan and turned into the first "taiho" or the Philippine Centaur. Angga was beautiful though very vain and selfish, such as she captured the fancy of the god Barangaw that wherever she goes, a rainbow appears. She also had a penchant for shiny things and loved jewels very much, that she isn't above stealing the jewels and precious things of others to adorn her milky white body. One day, she happened to pass by a sacred grove of Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan and saw her servants, dwarves carrying gold on sacks, and followed them, asking them as to whom this bulawan belongs. The dwarves answered with "only to the fairest among the earth's children, Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan". Angga got jealous and arrogant, and proclaimed herself being the fairest of earth's children. She then rushed home and told the villagers to build her a throne encrusted with jewels and gold and carry her back to the shrine of BPSB. Her arrogance and fury boiled over and shouted, "Nothing and no one is more fairer than me, only I deserve those earthly treasures!"

In a flash of golden light, Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan, appeared before the girl. The townspeople fled but they were all turned into yellow field mice in a flash, Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan then stepped hard on the girls toes, and they turned into golden hooves, she then conked the girl in the forehead with her golden slipper and a big ivory horn grew, she then cursed the girl for her folly of declaring higher than any deity and made her the image of her ancestor, the lusty datu, into a half-woman, half horse and everyone would flee from her hideousness. Barangaw however felt pity on the girl and blessed her with her good looks back, even though she still has a horn and is half horse, and gave her the power to ride the rainbow, and take shelter at the end of the rainbow. Up to this day, natives believe, when you see a rainbow, make sure of it, an Anggitay is at large at the end of it, still looking for Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan's coffer of gold!

Additional note: Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan made a promise that the curse that turned the girl into the first anggitay would be broken if she is able to collect 7 sacks of gold. Barangaw promised to continue helping the girl, and they would hunt for it after the rain (Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan does not like getting wet), however Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan also blew some gold dust in Angga’s eyes, which makes her see mirages of golden forms from a distant, that way she is eternally bound to her monster form for she cannot finish her task.

BURIGADANG PADA SINAKLANG BULAWAN and the MAIDSERVANTS
A long time ago, Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan had a bunch of female dwarves attending to her, and they were happy to be of service to her for she pays them with gold nuggets as much as their heart desires, and the reputation serving the beautiful deity has their merits too in the realm of elemental beings. One day however, the dwendinas were too lazy to search for rare Kachuchi leaves/or flowers for the goddess to smoke, and as everyone knows... deities are very particular when it comes to demands and tastes. The eldest of the group told her friends that they should start looking for it, lest they want to suffer a terrible fate, so they combed the forests and only after a short while, they got tired and frustrated, for they were a lazy group of dwarves. In haste they reasoned out with the eldest and pointed at a bunch of wild leaves growing on the forest floor as substitute. They also exclaimed that they will just tell the goddess it is a new discovery and worth trying. Little did they know that those leaves were the infamous sagai leaves, a plant that is sometimes linked to the family of toxic plants of either the poison sumac or ivy variety which grows in tropical conditions. They took the leaves to the diwata who was curious enough to try it. A few puffs and instantly the diwata knew something was wrong, her tongue itched and her mouth was on fire, her lips swelled twice the size in appearance, and made her face break out into rash. The diwata was furious at the disfigurement, and punished her lazy servants, turning the eldest into a toadstool mushroom (poisonous mushroom) and the rest into termite hills, vowing that any unlucky traveller who gets to taste of this innocent looking fungus will feel terrible pains, and that the mounds of soil and clay that we call now as termite hills would serve houses to terrible pests known to man, wrecking and eating their most prized possessions and homes.

Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan
as portrayed by Katrina Halili
GMA Network's INDIO, 2013
Photo Credit: @joanneloya

BURIGADANG PADA SINAKLANG BULAWAN & THE BEAUTY CONTEST

Once upon a time there was a very rich datu, Bulahon on Panay Island who finally won the hand of the woman of his dreams, a princess from the Sulu sea, and of course the entire town and every deity in the area was invited. Among the divine personages present was Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan, Bai Suga the light fairy, and Lubay Lubyok Mahanginun si Mahuyokhuyokan. The wedding feast went on for a week, and wine was generously poured to the guests, and there was constant merriment and good cheer among the people. The drunk datu however suggested that the 3 divinities present should have a friendly competition on who is the fairest of them all.

Bai Suga was one vain fairy, and would not want to lose the contest. However, she knows that she has 2 beautiful goddesses to compete against… with Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan as her biggest competition, for the golden deity is the fairest in the land next only to Alunsina. Bai Suga decided to devise a way for the audience not to take note of her main competitor’s beauty. She told the diwata, who was inebriated with alcohol by that time, " Mahal na diwata, your beauty is incomparable, every man and woman notices you, we are nothing but grains of sand beneath you." The goddess took the compliment and was very pleased, " For that you have gained a favor from me. Ask and you shall have it." The sly fairy answered " I want only one simple thing, may I suggest the location for this competition? I want to lose gracefully." The goddess was delighted to hear such a small request and gave consent.

Then the fairy told the datu to hold the competition in a very dark CAVE in the middle of the night, and whomever the people appreciates the most wins it all. After that, everyone went to the cave when midnight approached and the competition began, Lubay Lubyok Mahanginun si Mahuyokhuyokan went in first, and pleased the crowd with her sweet smelling night air, enticing their senses of smell and feeling since it was pitch-dark. Bai Suga went in second,and danced to her heart's content, everyone could see her due to her powers of light and appreciated every movement of the dance. Finally, Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan then went inside the deep cave, only to realize that she was tricked and the people could not appreciate her golden beauty, and since it was pitch dark inside, even her golden glow is no match for the extreme darkness.She was humiliated but kept silent until the datu said " My lovely goddess it is no use, we cannot see you, it is too dark. I am afraid Bai Suga won this one." The deity went from embarrassed to furious, when Bai Suga came again inside the cave to claim her prize, the deity yelled and screamed at her, tearing all her clothes off and leaving her stark naked for everyone to see, humiliating the fairy since she was "glowing" that everyone could see her. Bai Suga screamed in pain and asked for forgiveness for the trickery but Burigadang Pada Sinaklang Bulawan would have none of it. The diwata however was not finished and continued to kick and stomp the fairy until she shrunk to the size of a pea. The people could no longer hear the screaming fairy but instead they saw a small glowing bug and they followed it till they reached the exit of the cave, and they knew that the goddess turned the fairy into this insect which is now called iput-iput (since her light is at the end of her buttocks and sometimes it flashes which reminded them of droppings).