Zanahary
Malagasy · deity · primordial · deity
Supreme creator and personified sky of pan-Malagasy religion, also titled Andriamanitra ('the Fragrant Lord') and Andriananahary ('Lord Creator'). With the self-created earth-being Ratovantany he forms the sky/earth creation pair: Zanahary gives the soul from the sky, Ratovantany the body from clay, and at death each reclaims his part (soul to sky/sun, body to earth) — the foundation of razana (ancestor) belief. Andriamanitra/Andriananahary are folded in as epithets rather than authored separately, since the sources treat them as titles of this same supreme being. The razana (ancestors) are venerated as a class but are not authored as named figures.
Domains
- sky
- creation
- the soul
- the sun
Powers
- Gives life and soul to created beings
- Reclaims the soul into the sky at death
Epithets
- Andriamanitra
- Andriananahary
- Andriantompo
Relations
- ally: Ratovantany
Sources
- James Sibree, The Great African Island: Chapters on Madagascar (London, 1880)
- Jørgen Ruud, Taboo: A Study of Malagasy Customs and Beliefs (Oslo Univ. Press / George Allen & Unwin, 1960)
- Charles Renel, Ancêtres et dieux (Bulletin de l'Académie malgache, 1920–21)
- Jørgen Ruud, Taboo: A Study of Malagasy Customs and Beliefs (1960)
- Charles Renel, Contes de Madagascar (1910)