Tungkung Langit profile

Tungkung Langit
Creation Deity and Pillar of Heaven

Tungkung Langit is a popular deity of the people of Ancient Panay, he is their version of the all-powerful, creator deity who made the world out of primordial chaos, his counterparts in the Philippine Mythology are Kan-Laon of the Negrense tribes, Bathala of the Tagalogs, Kaptan, the All-Powerful Sky God of the Visayans, Gugurang of the Bicolanos, Kadaw La Sambad of the T'boli tribe to name a few. However, there are 2 gods in the Panay pantheon called Tungkung Langit. Tungkung Langit continues to live on in the hearts and minds of ethnic Panay groups,especially those who escaped the Spanish Acquisition, and his stories continue to live on till this day!

"Tungkung Langit the Creator"

In the Panayanon Myth, Tungkung Langit was the hard-working god who created order out of chaos and made sure that things should be in their rightful place when he made the world. He was also the industrious husband of Alunsina, who was said to be jealous and lazy goddess who would rather spend time brushing her hair and admiring her beautiful self, while Tungkung Langit was perpetually busy arranging the universe. They had a quarrel when Alunsina thought Tungkung Langit was havign a secret affair behind her back and when he discovered her servant, the eastern breeze, Tungkung Langit scolded Alunsina for her pettiness. proclaiming that he would never cheat on her and that they were the only ones in the Universe. Alunsina ran away and he never saw her again, no matter how hard he tried to impress her and bring her back, his efforts were fruitless. He decorated the earth with flowers and trees and threw her comb into the sky to make the moon and her jewelled necklace to make the stars, but Alunsina was nowhere to be seen, and he forever lived alone in their majestic home in Ibabawnon (Upper World) and people believed that the rain they see during the wet season is Tungkung Langit's tears and the thunder is his voice, sobbing or calling out for Alunsina to come back.

"Tungkung Langit, The Pillar of Heaven" 

The other Tungkung Langit was a lesser deity, brother of Panlinugon, god of earthquakes. He was a god of immense size, gigantic in stature, The name "Tungkung Langit" means "Pillar of Heaven" therefore it was his duty to bear the skies upon his shoulders so that it would not fall down and crush the citizens below, this is most important job and it also says he never leaves his post as not to risk crushing the other gods and the citizens of Earth, much like the Greek titan, Atlas. This Tungkung Langit has a wife also, her name is
Luyong Kabig, she however lives in the Underworld, guarding the entrance as no live mortal may pass it accidentally or otherwise, until their time has come.

Alunsina with Tungkung Langit
adapted by F. Landa Jocano in Outline of Philippine Mythology
 (Manila: Centro Escolar University Research and Development Center, 1969).
http://kalisnglawin.blogspot.com/2009/10/myth-of-creation-panay-visayas.html

Creation Myth Variant 1: Tunkung Langit and Alunsina

The Story of Tunkung Langit and Alunsina  

(a folklore from Panay)

Once upon a time when the earth was but a shapeless, formless void appeared the god called Tungkung Langit (“ Pillar of Heaven”) and the virgin goddess of the eastern skies, Alunsina (“ The Unmarried One”).
The old Visayan folklore states that Tungkung Langit fell in love with Alunsina. After he had courted her for many years, they married and made their home in the highest part of heaven. There the water was always warm and the breeze was forever cool, not a bad weather was in sight, and the couple was happy. In this place in the heavens, order and regularity began.

Tungkung Langit was a loving, hard-working god. He wanted to impose order over the confused world. He decided to arrange the world so that the heavenly bodies would move regularly. On the other hand, Alunsina was a lazy, jealous, selfish goddess. She sat at the window of their home all day doing nothing but brush her long beautiful hair. Sometimes she would leave her home, sit down by a pool near the door, and comb her long, jet-black hair all day long. One day Tungkung Langit told his wife that he would be away for some time. He said he must make time go on smoothly and arrange everything in the world and did not return for a long time. Alunsina thought he was off to see a lover, so she summoned the breeze to spy on Tungkung Langit. Tungkung Langit caught the spying breeze and he became very angry with Alunsina. After he returned home, he told her that it was ungodly of her to be jealous since there were no other gods in the world except the two of them.
Alunsina resented this reproach, and they quarreled all day. In his anger, Tungkung Langit drove his wife away. And with that, Alunsina suddenly disappeared, without a word or a trace to where she went. A few days passed, Tungkung Langit felt very lonely and longed for his wife. He realized that he should not have lost his temper. But it was too late, Alunsina is gone.  Their home which was once vibrant with Alunsina's sweet voice, his home became cold and desolate. In the morning when he woke up, he would find himself alone. In the afternoon when he came home, he would feel loneliness creeping deep within him.

For months Tungkung Langit lived in utter desolation. Try as he did he could not find Alunsina. And so in his desperation, he decided to do something to forget his sorrow and win back his wife’s favor. So he came down to earth and planted trees and flowers that she may notice it, but she still didn’t come home. Then in desperation, he took his wife's jewels and scattered them in the sky. He hoped that when Alunsina should see them she might be induced to return home.
Alunsina's necklace became the stars, her comb the moon, and her crown the sun. But in spite of all his efforts, Alunsina did not return home. Until now, as the story goes, Tungkung Langit lives alone in his palace in the skies and sometimes, he would cry out for Alunsina and his tears would fall down upon the earth as rain and his loud voice, calling out for his wife, was believed to be the thunder during storms, begging for her to come back to their heavenly palace once more.