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Though it is no longer practised today,Tonga's ancient religion was practised for over 2,000 years, and some authors have characterised pre-contact Tonga as atheocracy.[1]Christian missionaries arrived from the 1790s; they persuaded KingGeorge Tupou I to convert (1831) toChristianity. He ordered and strictly enforced that all Tongans become Christian and no longer practise the ancientpolytheistic religion with its supreme godTangaloa.[2][page needed]
Pulotu was the unseen world, the domain of the god or goddessHikule'o believed to be reached by sea. Stories told of journeys to Pulotu. Tongans identify Pulotu with the underworld,Lolofonua. Pulotu is also identified with the cemetery or graveyard. Long ago, it was believed that Pulotu could be visited by a man to recover a dead wife. Hikule'o would assemble the spirits so the wife could be found, reanimated and released.
Two entrances are pointed out by Tongans. One isAhole a deep hole on the island of Koloa,Vava'u. Ahole was the opening from whichMaui Kisikisi brought fire from the underworld to this world. The second opening was through the island ofTofua. There are three divisions of Pulotu calledPulotu Tete,Pulotu 'Aka'aka, andPulotu Tu'uma'u.
Tangaloa, the sky god (or grouped together as sky gods), was regarded in Vava'u as the deity who hauled up the islands of the Vava'u group, hisfish hook (This is also similar to the story of Maui fishing up the North Island of New Zealand) catching in what is now the island ofHunga. The Vava'u people attributed this great act to Tangaloa instead ofMaui due to the importance of Tangaloa worship in Vava'u.Tangaloa Tufunga, though said not to be a god inNiuatoputapu, is the patron of carpenters elsewhere in Tonga.
TheMaui were special men or demigods; they appeared human. Maui drew up the islands of Atata, north ofTongatapu, as well asTongatapu with all its associated islands, thenLofanga and the otherHa'apai islands, and lastly theVava'u.
Some authors have characterized this period [12th to 14th centuries CE] in Tongan history as a theocracy.
