In Tongan mythology, who is the goddess of the underworld?

In Tongan mythology, Hikuleʻo is the goddess of the underworld.

Her realm is called Pulotu, an unseen world that Tongan tradition associates with the underworld, the burial ground, and the land of the dead. Stories describe Pulotu as reachable by sea, with entrances identified at places including Ahole on Vavaʻu and the volcanic island of Tofua.

Hikuleʻo belongs to a major Tongan divine grouping with Maui and Tangaloa. In one account, their ancestor Taufulifonua divided the cosmos among them: Tangaloa received the sky, Maui the earth, and Hikuleʻo Pulotu. This division helps explain why Tangaloa and Maui are common distractors, even though they rule different domains.

Hikuleʻo is also connected with Tonga’s creation traditions. She is said to have thrown stones from the sky that became several volcanic islands, while other islands were fished up by Maui. Her Samoan equivalent is sometimes identified as Saveasiʻuleo.