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-Manua

Relations

• ally: Taikaleleu, ruling spirit of the forest and mountains
• ally: Kabagat Koat, ruling spirit of the sea
• ally: Taikabaga, ruling spirit beneath the earth
• subordinate to: Ulaumanua, the formless high deity
• ally: Ulaumanua, the formless high deity

Sources

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