Grandmother Goddess
Kirati · deity · mythic / cult continuous to present · Recorded classification
Kirati (Limbu/Yakthung) ancestral grandmother-goddess; the form 'Sammang' (sam = soul/spirit, mang = deity) marks a deity-class spirit, so classed as deity. She is the maternal/earth aspect of Tagera Ningwaphuma and the namesake of the religion Yumaism (Yuma Samyo). Worshipped especially at the autumn harvest festival Chasok Tangnam.
Domains
- ancestral motherhood
- earth fertility
Powers
- guard and nurture the Limbu people as their grandmother
Epithets
- Yuma Sammang The great grandmother-goddess, protector and giver of life among the LimbuLimbu (Kirati) Mundhum tradition (secondary)
- Yuma grandmother / ancestral motherR. K. Sprigg and J. R. Subba, on Limbu (Yakthung) Yuma tradition (secondary)
Relations
- spouse: Ancestral War-GodReciprocal of kirati_theba_sammang.spouse — Grandfather and grandmother deities, the paired male and female ancestral powers of Limbu religion.I.S. Chemjong, History and Culture of the Kirat People (1966) (secondary)
Sources
- Yuma Sammang is the grandmother-goddess of the Limbu, the earthly personification of the supreme deity Tagera Ningwaphuma; her name means 'Mother Earth' or 'Grandmother'.: 'Yuma Sammang', Wikipedia, accessed June 2026 (encyclopedia); 'Kirati people', Wikipedia, accessed June 2026 (encyclopedia)
- Yuma Sammang and the war-god Theba Sammang are the second-most-important deities of the Limbu after the supreme Tagera Ningwaphuma.: 'Kirati people', Wikipedia, accessed June 2026 (encyclopedia)