Tala is the name of the goddess

Goddess

A goddess is a female deity. In some cultures goddesses are associated with Earth, motherhood, love, and the household. In other cultures, goddesses also rule over war, death, and destruction as well as healing....

 of stars in Tagalog

Tagalog people

The Tagalog people are an ethnic group in the Philippines. The name Tagalog comes from either the native term tagá-ilog, meaning 'people living along the river', or another native term, tagá-alog, meaning 'people living along the ford', a ford being a shallow part of a river or stream where people,...

 mythology. Her origins are varied depending on region.

In one story, sun god Arao and the moon goddess

Lunar deity

In mythology, a lunar deity is a god or goddess associated with or symbolizing the moon. These deities can have a variety of functions and traditions depending upon the culture, but they are often related to or an enemy of the solar deity. Even though they may be related, they are distinct from the...

 Buan both had large families of stars, but Buan believed her stars could not survive the heat of Arao. They both agreed to destroy their stars. While Arao devoured his, Buan hid hers in the clouds, where they would occasionally emerge. Upon seeing this, Arao was filled with rage and is eternally in pursuit of the Buan, trying to destroy her. Eclipse

Eclipse

An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object is temporarily obscured, either by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer...

s are explained by Arao getting close enough to bite her. At dawn, Buan hides the stars and brings them forth only when her eldest daughter, Tala (the evening and morning star

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...

) says the sun is too far away to pursue them.

Derived from this myth are the Tagalog

Tagalog language

Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...

 words tala, which means "bright star", araw (sun) and buwan (moon).

This story has very close parallels to stories among non-Filipino cultures such as the Bihar

Bihari people

The Biharis are an ethnic group originating from the present state of Bihar with a history going back three millennia...

, Semang

Semang

The Semang are a Negrito ethnic group of the Malay Peninsula. Lowland Semang tribes are also known as Sakai, although this term is considered to be derogatory by the Semang people. They are probably the indigenous peoples of this area. They have been recorded to have lived here since before the...

, Savara

Sora tribe

The Sora are a tribe from Southern Orissa,North Coastal Andhra Pradesh India...

 and the Bhuiya tribes..

In another myth, Tala is the daughter of Bathala

Bathala

In ancient Tagalog Theology Bathala was the Supreme Being; the Omnipotent Creator of the universe. Antonio de Morga, among others, thought that Bathala meant an omen bird , but the author of the Boxer Codex was advised not to use it in this sense because they did not consider it God but only his...

 and the sister of moon goddess Mayari

Mayari

In Tagalog mythology, Mayari is the beautiful lunar deity who was the daughter of Bathala, the king of the gods, to a mortal woman. She is known as the most beautiful deity in Bathala's court...

, and Adlaw, the god of the sun.