A Bulul is a carved wooden figure used to guard the rice crop by the Igorot 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. The Ifugao are particularly noted for their
skill in carving bululs.
Bul-uls are used in ceremonies associated with rice production and with healing. Creation
of a bul-ul involves alwen bul-ul ritual by a priest to ensure that the statue gains power. The bul-
ul is treated with care and respect to avoid the risk of the spirits of the ancestors bringing
sickness. The figures are placed in rice granaries to bring a plentiful harvest. Bul-ul is important
to ifugaos bacause they belief that they can have abundant harvest when this is placed near rice
granaries.
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. Male bulul may sometimes be depicted
with loincloth, and females with tapis (wrap skirts),
earrings and anklets. Although the form varies, the
bulul is commonly represented as seated on the
ground, with arms crossed over his upraised
knees. The bulul has a simplified form, and is
traditionally carved from narra or ipil wood or
sometimes stone.
The bulul is touched by hands dipped in blood of a chicken or pig in ritual
called tunod during the rice planting season. Over time the blood imparts a dark color to the
figures, overlaid with a patina of grease from food offerings. Bululs are handed down to the first
child of a family. Typically the older statues have beetle holes made by insects in the granary.

Bululs 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 addingauthenticity. 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 Bululs and other Anito (guardian deity) figures.