Biliku
Andamanese · deity · primordial / before times (in the time of the ancestors) · deity
Spirit-class creator-and-weather being classed here as deity. Identity of Pūluga (southern Aka-Bea, per E. H. Man) and Biliku/Bilik (northern groups, per Radcliffe-Brown) was a central debate in early Andamanese ethnography; Radcliffe-Brown showed the figure is the personified NE monsoon, paired in opposition with Tarai (SW monsoon), with sex and personality varying by band. 'Biliku' is also the bee/cicada-linked owner of fire. Andamanese languages are unwritten; the term value is a Latin transcription (no native script).
Domains
- storm and monsoon wind
- creation and cosmic order
- taboo and divine anger
Powers
- send the monsoon winds
- hurl storm and strike offenders with thrown objects
- make the sun and the moon
Epithets
- Biliku
Relations
- spouse: Tarai
- enemy: Kingfisher