Kabagat Koat, ruling spirit of the sea
Mentawai · deity · Mentawai traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Kabagat Koat (Tai Ka Bagat Koat, also Tai Ka-Koat, 'the lord within the sea') is the ruling spirit of the ocean in the Arat Sabulungan religion of the Mentawai. He guards marine life and the coastal waters, and fishermen and seafarers seek his consent through the kerei and the sabulungan leaf-offering. With the rulers of the sky and the forest he completes the triad of cosmic-domain spirits whom the Mentawai address in every major rite.
Domains
- sea and marine life
- fishing and coastal waters
Powers
- to guard the sea and the marine life within it
Epithets
- Tai Ka Bagat KoatSchefold, Reimar. Lia: Das grosse Ritual auf den Mentawai-Inseln (Indonesien). Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1988. (secondary)
Relations
- ally: Taikamanua, ruling spirit of the skyThe sea-lord and the sky-lord are jointly addressed by the kerei as guardians of two of the three cosmic domains.Schefold, Reimar. Toys for the Souls: Life and Art on the Mentawai Islands. Brussels: Primedia / 5 Continents, 2017. (secondary)
- ally: Taikaleleu, ruling spirit of the forest and mountainsThe lord of the sea and the lord of the land divide the inhabited surface of the Mentawai world between ocean and forest.Schefold, Reimar. Toys for the Souls: Life and Art on the Mentawai Islands. Brussels: Primedia / 5 Continents, 2017. (secondary)
- subordinate to: Ulaumanua, the formless high deityThe sea-lord, like the other domain spirits, stands beneath the overarching authority of the formless high deity Ulaumanua.The Religious Cosmology of Indigenous Communities for Maintaining Ecological Balance in the Mentawai Islands, Indonesia. Millah: Journal of Religious Studies, Universitas Islam Indonesia, 2024. (secondary)
Sources
- Kabagat Koat (Tai Ka-Koat) is the Mentawai ruling spirit of the sea, guardian of marine life and the coastal waters.: Schefold, Reimar. Lia: Das grosse Ritual auf den Mentawai-Inseln (Indonesien). Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1988. (secondary); Tulius, Juniator & Linda Burman-Hall. 'Primates and birds of sabulungan; Roles of animals in sculptures, shamanic songs and dances, and the belief system of traditional Mentawaians.' Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia 23(2), 2022. (secondary)