Divine Messenger
Bodo · deity · mythic / agricultural cycle · Recorded classification
Khoila is one of the chief gods of the Kherai festival of the Bodos, invoked by name in the dances of the doudini before the sijou altar. He functions as the messenger of the god-in-chief Bathoubwrai, bearing his commands among gods and men, and in the elemental scheme of modern Bathouism he is identified with the air or wind, one of the five elements from which the tradition holds the world to be composed.
Domains
- messages
- wind
Powers
- to carry the commands and messages of the supreme god
Relations
- subordinate to: Bathou BwraiKhoila is described as the messenger of the god-in-chief Bathoubwrai, serving him alongside Agrang and Ailong in the Kherai worship.Kameswar Brahma, A Study of Socio-Religious Beliefs, Practices and Ceremonies of the Bodos, Calcutta: Punthi Pustak, 1992. (secondary)
Sources
- Khoila is a principal Kherai deity of the Bodos, the messenger of the supreme god Bathoubwrai, associated in Bathou elemental doctrine with the air.: Kameswar Brahma, A Study of Socio-Religious Beliefs, Practices and Ceremonies of the Bodos, Calcutta: Punthi Pustak, 1992. (secondary); Sekhar Brahma, Religion of the Boros and Their Socio-Cultural Transition: A Phenomenological Approach, Guwahati: DVS Publishers, 2006. (secondary)