Yang Sri

Yang Sri is the personified spirit of the rice, the deity at the heart of the Jarai swidden cult and, more broadly, of the whole central highland rice-growing world. Conceived as a feminine, mother-like presence, the rice-soul must be treated with care lest it flee the field or granary: it is called, fed, and honoured with sacrifice at the turning points of the agricultural year, from the clearing and sowing of the swidden to the ingathering of the crop. The name joins the generic yang, spirit or deity, to Sri, the Sanskrit name of rice and prosperity carried inland through Cham influence; the assimilated form Yang Hri is also recorded. Among a people whose subsistence and ritual calendar alike turn on the rice, Yang Sri is among the most constantly invoked of the many yang.

Domains

• rice
• agriculture
• fertility

Powers

• ripens the rice and grants the harvest
• guards the standing crop and granary

Epithets

• Yang Sri — Spirit of the RiceHickey, Sons of the Mountains (1982). (secondary)

Sources

• Yang Sri is the personified rice deity of the Jarai swidden cult, honoured with offerings at planting and harvest; the name descends from Sanskrit Sri via Cham, and the local form Yang Hri also occurs.: Jacques Dournes, Potao (1977), on the Jarai rice cult. (primary); Gerald C. Hickey, Sons of the Mountains (1982), on the rice spirit across the central highlands. (secondary)