Pulotu is the resting place of those passed on in the Polynesian narrative of Tonga and Samoa, the world of darkness "lalo fonua" (as opposed to the human world of light).
The term is related to Fijian Burotu. It goes back to Proto-Polynesian *pulotu, from Proto-Central Pacific *burotu.
In the Tongan narrative, Pulotu is presided over by Havea Hikuleûo. In Tongan cosmology the sky, the sea, and Pulotu existed from the beginning, and the gods lived there. The first land they made for the people was Touiaûifutuna "trapped in Futuna", which was only a rock. There are suggestions that for Tonga and Samoa, Pulotu refers to a real country, in fact Matuku Island in the Lau Islands. The old name of Matuku Island is Burotu. However, there is no signs of underwater civilization in the Matuku waters where they said that Burotu once laid. But new evidence suggest Pulotu is situated in Moturiki belonging to FijiâÂÂs Lomaiviti Archipelago.
After the independence struggle by Hikuleûo and his cousins Maui Motuûa and Tangaloa ûEiki, they renamed Touiaûifutuna into Tongamamaûo. Only after that the other islands were made (the volcanic islands by Hikuleûo and the coral islands by Maui). Finally, Tongamamaûo was renamed, for the last time, as Tonga.
Hikuleûo is supposed to have married a daughter of Tangaloa ûEiki.
In the mythology of Samoa, Pulotu is presided over by the god Saveasi'uleo (also referred to as Elo), whose name reveals a similarity to the Tongan god Havea Hikuleo. Saveasi'uleo is the father of Nafanua the Goddess of War in Samoa, from the village of Falealupo, the site of the entryway into Pulotu.
Spirits enter Pulotu at Le Fafa at Falealupo village.