Taikamanua, ruling spirit of the sky

Taikamanua (Tai Ka-Manua, 'lord of the sky') is the ruling spirit of the heavens and clouds in the Arat Sabulungan religion of the Mentawai of Siberut, off the west coast of Sumatra. He is held responsible for rain and the weather, and in several ethnographic accounts is identified as the creator and the supreme ruler over the upper, middle, and lower worlds. Together with the rulers of the forest and the sea he forms the triad of domain spirits whom the kerei (shaman) addresses with bundles of leaves (sabulungan) at every ceremony of birth, healing, house-building, and tattooing.

Domains

• sky and weather
• rain and fertility of the air

Powers

• to send rain and govern the weather of the sky

Epithets

• Tai Ka-ManuaSchefold, Reimar. Lia: Das grosse Ritual auf den Mentawai-Inseln (Indonesien). Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1988. (secondary)

Relations

• ally: Taikaleleu, ruling spirit of the forest and mountainsWorshipped together with the rulers of forest and sea as the co-ordinate domain spirits invoked in every sabulungan rite.Tulius, Juniator & Linda Burman-Hall. 'Primates and birds of sabulungan.' Wacana 23(2), 2022. (secondary)
• ally: Kabagat Koat, ruling spirit of the seaThe sky-lord and the sea-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 (English edition; orig. Speelgoed voor de zielen, Delft 1979). (secondary)
• ally: Taikabaga, ruling spirit beneath the earthSky-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 deityWhere the formless high deity Ulaumanua is recognised, the named domain spirits stand beneath its overarching authority over all realms.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)
• ally: Ulaumanua, the formless high deityAs the overarching high deity, Ulaumanua presides above the named ruling spirit of the sky and the other domain spirits.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

• Taikamanua is the Mentawai ruling spirit of the sky and clouds, governing weather and rain and in some accounts named as creator and highest ruler.: 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)