Jata, respectfully called Bawin Jata ('the Woman Jata') and identified with the watersnake tambon, is the goddess of the Underworld and the primeval waters in Ngaju religion. She embodies the lower, left-hand, watery half of the cosmos, the moon, and riverine fertility and wealth, and under the title Jata Balawang Bulau ('Jata of the Golden Door') she guards the treasures of the deep. Schärer's central argument is that Jata and the hornbill-god Mahatala form one indivisible godhead expressing the union of Upperworld and Underworld, from whose conjunction springs the sacred Tree of Life, Batang Garing. Watersnake imagery of Jata pervades Ngaju ritual art, priestly regalia, and the decoration of coffins and mortuary houses.