Tagroa Siria, glossed 'God Above', was the supreme deity of pre-Christian Rotuma, identified by ethnographers as the island's form of the widely worshipped Polynesian god Tangaroa (Samoan Tagaloa). His epithet 'Siria' links him to the ancient name of the island and to the star said to stand directly overhead. As head of the old fertility religion he was held responsible for rain, the fruitfulness of the land and the prosperity of the people; he was approached not directly by commoners but through the sacred king (sau) and the mua, who conducted the seasonal ritual cycle on the community's behalf. Tradition located him apart from the living in a hidden spirit region.