Explore the mystivcal Bathala cave that is situated in Ipil, Sta. Cruz, Marinduque. Marinduque is not only rich in beaches along on its coastlines; it also possesses beautiful falls and mystical caves. The Caves of Bathala are eight different caves, named Church Cave, Secret Cave, Python Cave, Cemetrey Cave, Lihim Cave, Underground Cave, River Cave and Kay Mendez Cave. They are located in a 19 hectares big area, at about 700m asl. Moreover, the Bathala Cave contains even more caves, but they are not explored or named yet.
Among all caves, Kuweba ng Simbahan (Cave of the Church) is the biggest, used as the worshiping area by religious sects before. It was believed that Cave of the Church is the home of Amang Bathala, the Supreme God of the Tagalogs, the indigenous inhabitants of the Philippines. The Cave is spacious enough for 100 people.
The cave also seems to be very attractive to extremists, terrorists, and religious sects as well. Long before, the group called Pulajan Movement worshipped their Supreme God here to regain the potency of their amulets, which they believed that it could protect them from the bullets of the American colonizers.
Next were the Samahang Tatlong Persona Solo Dios, who reside at the Cave’s premises for a long time during the early 1900s.Originally, the sect is established in Mount Banahaw in Quezon by Agapito Illustrisimo. The reason why they came to Bathala Cave was they believed that Mount Banahaw and Bathala Cave were somehowspiritually connected. They still have their center at the cave.
Lastly, a very interesting cave that guests and environmentalists would love to see, the Python Cave. The cave is guarded by numerous HARMLESS living pythons. Yes, they are harmless. A strange thing about these pythons is that snakes are normally dangerous and aggressive, but here at the cave they are not. They are said to have never attacked even a single visitor. In fact, visitors can even take pictures of the pythons as close as 35cm. The locals explain this with the fact that the snakes are the pets of Bathala.
Getting there, it will take you almost 2hours from the Cawit Port, taking the route of Gasan – Boac – Mogpog – Sta.Cruz, and almost an hour land travel from the Balanacan Port. Experience the adventure and learn the mystical history of Bathala Cave.
