Taikabaga, ruling spirit beneath the earth
Mentawai · deity · Mentawai traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Taikabaga (Tai Ka-Baga, 'lord of the interior / of the world below') is the ruling spirit who dwells beneath the surface of the earth in the Arat Sabulungan religion of the Mentawai. He is the chthonic ruler of the lowest of the three Mentawai worlds — sky above, the inhabited middle world, and the realm below the earth — and his domain is bound up with the fertility of the soil and with the world that receives the dead. In the architectural symbolism of the jaraik fetish-panel, the downward-curving lower part, like tree-roots, represents this underworld domain.
Domains
- earth below and underworld
- soil fertility and the land
Powers
- to rule the world beneath the earth and receive the dead
Epithets
- Tai si Ka BagaTulius, Juniator. 'Stranded people; Mythical narratives about the first inhabitants of Mentawai Islands.' Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia 14(2), 2012, pp. 215-240. (secondary)
Relations
- ally: Taikamanua, ruling spirit of the skySky-above and earth-below are paired as the upper and lower ruling spirits framing the middle world of humans.Tulius, Juniator & Linda Burman-Hall. 'Primates and birds of sabulungan.' Wacana 23(2), 2022. (secondary)
- subordinate to: Ulaumanua, the formless high deityThe lord of the world below, 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
- Taikabaga (Tai Ka-Baga) is the Mentawai ruling spirit beneath the earth's surface, the chthonic lord of the lower of the three cosmic worlds.: Tulius, Juniator. 'Stranded people; Mythical narratives about the first inhabitants of Mentawai Islands.' Wacana, Journal of the Humanities of Indonesia 14(2), 2012, pp. 215-240. (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)