Household God
Bodo · deity · mythic / agricultural cycle · deity
Song Raja ('king of the house') is among the most prominent household deities of the Bodo (Boro-Kachari) people of Assam. He is represented within the dwelling at an interior altar known as the dham, where he receives regular devotion, notably from the women of the household; his offerings are eventually brought outside and laid at the sijou (Euphorbia) tree that embodies Bathoubwrai, marking his subordination to the supreme god. Ethnographic accounts also describe Song Raja as owner of the wild animals, whom hunters propitiate before entering the forest. He is paired with a female counterpart, Song Rani, in the traditional enumeration of eighteen divine couples of Bathouism.
Domains
- household
- wild animals
Powers
- to guard the household and its inmates
Epithets
- Song Bwrai
Relations
- subordinate to: Supreme Elder God