Lady of the Beaded Chignon
Toraja · deity · primordial / creation · deity
Simbolong Manik is the goddess of the second divine generation in the cosmogony of the Sa'dan Toraja. Her name, 'the beaded chignon' or 'jewelled hair-knot', draws on an image that recurs in Toraja ritual speech as the very figure of noble female beauty, as in the praise poetry recited at marriage rites. As the wife of Usuk Sangbamban, the god sprung from the rib of the sky god Gaun Tikembong, she bore Puang Matua, the Old Lord who forged the first ancestors, and so stands as grandmother-figure to the created order in the liturgical genealogies chanted in the passomba tedong.
Domains
- creation
Powers
- to bear divine offspring
Relations
- spouse: The Single Rib
- mother of: Old Lord of the Heavens
Sources
- Hetty Nooy-Palm, The Sa'dan-Toraja: A Study of Their Social Life and Religion, vol. I: Organization, Symbols and Beliefs (Verhandelingen van het KITLV 87; The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, 1979)
- Darius Darius and Sonny Eli Zaluchu, 'Transformation of Elementary Puang Matua in Toraja Belief System into Christianity', Verbum et Ecclesia 44/1 (2023), a2831