Wednesday 08th February 2017
www.nukualofatimes.tbu.to
Nuku’alofa Times - Page 16
ART & CULTURE
Ancient Tongan Religion “Lotu”
Tevita Fale (THFALE.COM): I am Tongan society. Tevita H. Fale a traditional polynesian astronomer. Ancient Tongan I have spent a lifetime reReligion (Lotu) searching and restoring Ancient Polynesian Astronomical Knowledge and history. The backbone of every civThe foundations of ancient ilization in the history of Tongan civilization were es- the world has been and contablished and maintained by tinues to be the religious “Langa e Sia/Langi” erect- practices of a society. When ing mounds, “Langa e Fale” religious structures and beconstructing a Fale Lalava liefs erode in a civilization, (culture hall) on one of the that particular civilization mounds, “Fola e Fala” put- will begin to decline in all ting down a mat in the Fale other aspects of its society. Lalava, and “Palu e Kava” Religion is generally a way mixing a kumete (bowl) of life based upon belief in of kava. In this setting and things that cannot be physaround this kumete (bowl), ically seen or touched but the leaders of Tongan soci- have significance and imety would discuss and set pacts the daily lives of the plans regarding all aspects people. The “Lotu” (Lotus) plant is of Tongan life including: probably the most common 1. Religious practices plant or flower associated with religion throughout the 2. Political affairs world. Images of the Lotu 3. Social activities 4. Scientific applica- plant (Lotus) or flower are found in temples,pyramids tions The Tongan (Polynesian) and other religious struccivilization was organized tures in both ancient and in tribal/family groups modern times. Early Chriscalled “ha’a”. One of the tians in Syria used images main Ha’a or Fale was the of the lotu when depicting “Fale Fa” (Four houses or many religious events intribes) which were tasked cluding Noa’s flood and with performing duties that, Mose’s miracles. In these in modern governments groups, Hinduism, Budwould be assigned to a leg- dhism and Egyptian, they islative body. Each of the believed the lotus flowers Fale Fa was given special represented love, rebirth, stewardship over each of beauty and purity. The ancient Greeks philosthe four aspects of Tongan ophers referred to religious (Polynesian) life listed (Repeople as “lotus eaters.” ligious, Political, Social, & This was because in many Scientific). This article foreligions throughout the cuses on religion in Ancient
world, the lotus flower was a symbol of those with deep religious beliefs. Tongans were very religious and still are today as about 99 percent of Tongans are Christians. The Christians first arrived in Tonga in 1797 with the London Mission Society (LMS) missionaries. One of these missionaries was George Vason. He wrote a book about Tonga at the beginning of 1800’s. He wrote that Tonga already believed in life after death and the existence of a spiritual world before these missionaries arrived. In Tongan, the word “lotu” or “loto” was used to refer to both religion and prayer. It is also the word used to refer to the lotus plant/ flower. This is the origin of the nickname of the village of Folaha, ”Lotukaiano” or “Lotokaiano.” This is partly because of the many lotu plants found in the swampy areas around Folaha. In early Tonga (Polynesia) the origin legend of Tangaloa is that he lived in “Langi” which is now referred to as Tapuhia (where crime is forbidden) and located between Vaini and Folaha, with the “Lotu” nearby. Maui lived in “lalofonua” which is located near the swamp by Navutoka and Manuka where lotu (lotus) grows. Hikule’o then lived in the Spirit World (Pulotu), where the spirits went after death, which is located where the sun sets in the sky. The lotus plant symbolized each of these places—the flower was Langi (above the water), the leaves lalofonua (on the water) and the unseen roots is Pulotu (under the water). This origin legend of the Tongan (Polynesian) story misled historians in their translations of langi to be only sky, lalofonua to mean only under the land, and Pulotu to be a place in Fiji. Langi in Tongan was where the Tangaloa family used to live in Tonga. When the kingly title changed from the Tangaloa to the Tu’i Tonga line of kings, the word Langi now was the place where the Tu’i Tonga lived from the time of ‘Ahoeitu, the first Tu’i Tonga, in 450 A.D. to the last Tu’i Tonga Laufilitonga in 1865. There is no “langi” anywhere in Polynesia except Tonga. Lalofonua is where the tribe of Maui used to live in Tonga.
“Langi” is where the Tangaloa family lived before 500 A.D. This dwelling place used to be the highest point on the island of Tongatapu until the government crushed the rocks in the area for construction. The compound was called “Tapuhia” signifying that crime was absolutely forbidden due to the sacred nature of the Tangaloa Compound.
Langi’s were initially built to be the residence for the rulers in Tonga. At the death of the ruler the Langi is converted into the burial site for family. This picture illustrates the use of Langi’s as a burial grounds to this day. This place is known today as Ha’amaui (Maui’s tribe). Pulotu is where the sun sets to the West, and no one lives there as only the spirits that have left this world which is equivalent to heaven and hell in the Bible. When Christianity arrived in Tonga, their traditional religion was referred to as “Lotu Mu’a.” or the first Tongan religion. “Lotu Fo’ou” or “Lotu Mui” was referring to Christianity or the new religion in Tonga. The Lotu Mu’a believed that Pulotu was located where the sun sets. In the “Lotu Mu’a” (traditional religion first in Tonga), it was believed that Pulotu had two parts: Pulotu Tu’u Ma’u and Pulotu ‘Aka’aka. The Lotu Mui also believes in two different parts of Pulotu called heaven and hell. The God of Pulotu in Lotu Mu’a was Hikule’o who was one not seen but was only a voice one heard. The God of the Old Testament also in the New Testament was often referred to as only a voice heard by all the prophets in the Bible. In Tonga, there are many
places that refer to Pulotu’s land of the departed. Tongan (Polynesian) people described the two Pulotus for what they know best which is the ocean. There are two places that represent Pulotu ‘Aka’aka (unsteady/unhappy Pulotu), and there are also two places that represent Pulotu Tu’u ma’u (steady/happy Pulotu). The two Pulotu Tu’uma’u steady Pulotu are in both Lapaha and Kolovai (Tongatapu island) have waters that are relatively calm and peaceful like heaven in Christanity. The two locations for Pulotu ‘Aka’aka were in Ha’afeva (Ha’apai islands) and Koloa (Vava’u islands.) Both locations are known for rough and roaring seas, symbolic of the pain and the lack of peace for those who are in Pulotu ‘Aka’aka just as hell in Christianity. Polynesians have described Pulotu, the spirit world, in many different ways; and all these stories and descriptions have made it difficult for the western historians with no real understanding of Polynesian history, language, and religion to find
where the Polynesian Pulotu is. Early Europeans did not realize that this place is the same as the Christian heaven and hell, a place that is not physically located on the earth but a place where the spirits of the deceased go to enjoy peace/joy or pain/suffering. The Lotu (religion) is referred to as the “True Law” and “Good Law” by Buddhists and Tongans. I believe one of the reasons Tonga has never been colonized by a foreign power is because Tonga has always had the Lotu Mu’a which was practiced before Christianity and it missionaries arrived in Tonga. One of Tongan Lotu Mu’a Taula (priest) was Kautai. Taula Kautai raised Taufa’ahau the first Christian King of Tonga in the ways of the Lotu Mu’a. Taufa’ahau (Tupou I) was circumcised (circumcision another practice that connects the Tonga’s Lotu Mu’a to Ancient Christianity) according to the tenets of the Lotu Mu’a, well before he converted to the Lotu Mui in the late 1830’s.