Old Lord of the Heavens

In some genealogies Puang Matua is grandson of a yet-higher sky principle (Gauntikembong); recorded here as the operative high/creator god of Aluk To Dolo. No native script (Toraja is unwritten/Latin).

Children

• First-Forged Ancestor of Humankind

Domains

• creator and sky lord
• sacred law

Powers

• forges the ancestors of humans, creatures and crops in his sky-smithy
• gives the Toraja their ritual law and customs
• forges the first ancestors of humans, creatures and crops in his sky-smithy
• hands down the ritual law (aluk) and customs to the first humans

Epithets

• Puang Matua latin · Puang Matua · cultThe Old Lord; the creator-god of the Aluk To Dolo who forged the first ancestors in his bellowsToraja (Aluk To Dolo) tradition (secondary)
• deata dao tangana langi' Toraja (Sa'dan) · deata dao tangana langi · cultthe god who is above the middle of the skyHetty Nooy-Palm, The Sa'dan-Toraja: A Study of Their Social Life and Religion (1979) (secondary)

Relations

• ancestor of: First-Forged Ancestor of HumankindCreator high-god who forged the first ancestor of humankind, Datu Laukku (parentage encoded on Datu Laukku's record).Nooy-Palm, The Sa'dan-Toraja: A Study of Their Social Life and Religion (1979) (secondary)

Sources

• Puang Matua is the supreme creator-god and sky-lord of the Sa'dan Toraja, who forged the ancestors of humans and other beings in his heavenly smithy with the paired bellows (sauan sibarrung) and gave the ritual law (aluk).: Nooy-Palm, Hetty (1979). The Sa'dan-Toraja: A Study of Their Social Life and Religion, Vol. I. The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff. (secondary); Encyclopedia.com, 'Toraja Religion' (Encyclopedia of Religion), consulted 2026. (secondary)