How Golden Tara was Discovered

(Featured here in the Section 3, Chapter 1 of Butuan Through the Ages by Dionisio Sy, 1970.)

"One of the most spectacular discoveries in the Philippine archaeological history," exclaimed the UP scholar Dr. Juan Francisco in describing this famous statue.

The image is that of a female (Buddhist?) deity, seated crosslegged. It is made of "twenty-one carat gold and weighs nearly four pounds." It has a richly ornamented headdress and many ornaments in the arms and other parts of the body.

Scholars date it to the late 13th or early 14th sentury. It was made by local artists, perhaps copying from an imported (Javanese?) model. The gold was used from this area, since Javanese miners were known to have been engaged in gold mining in Butuan at this time.

The existence of these gold mines, this artifact and the presence of "foreigners" permit us to surmise on the existence of some foreign trade, gold as element in the barter economy, and of cultural and social contact between the natives and "foreigners."

Unfortunately for Filipinos, this statue is presently not found in our country. Prof. Beyer in 1918 tried to get the government to buy it for the National Museum. But as the bullion exceeded 4,000 pesos (at the old rate), funds were not available.

Mrs. Leonard Wood (whose husband was military-governor of the Moro Province in 1903-1906 and governor general in 1921-1927) raised funds for its purchase by the Chicago Museum of Natural History. It is now on display in that museum's Gold Room.

According to Prof. Beyer, considered the "Father of Philippine Anthropology and Archaeology", a woman in 1917 found it on the left bank of the Wawa River near Esperanza, Agusan, projecting from the silt in a ravine after a storm and flood. From her hands it passed into those of Bias Baklagon, a local government official. Shortly after, ownership passed to the Agusan Coconut Company, to whom Baklagon owed a considerable debt. Mrs. Leonard Wood bought it from the coconut company..." http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Cyprus/8446/tara2.html