Khmer · deity · pre Indic Khmer animism; living village cult · deity
Spirit-class entity treated as a deity (a class of tutelary guardian spirits rather than a single named god). Sex listed male as the prototypical neak ta is male, though female neak ta (e.g. Yeay Mao) also exist. English description leads; native Neak Ta (អ្នកតា) in alt/transliterations.
Domains
land and territory
tutelary guardianship
rain and fertility of the soil
Powers
Watches over a tree, stone, field or village in return for offerings
Speaks and cures through a chosen human medium
Sources
Ang Chouléan, Les êtres surnaturels dans la religion populaire khmère, Cedoreck, 1986
Courtney Work, 'Chthonic Sovereigns? Neak Ta in a Cambodian Village', The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology, 2019