Nang Ta-khian (, "Lady of Ta-khian") is a female spirit of the

folklore Folklore is the body of expressive culture shared by a particular group of people, culture or subculture. This includes oral traditions such as Narrative, tales, myths, legends, proverbs, Poetry, poems, jokes, and other oral traditions. This also ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. It manifests itself as a woman that haunts ''

Hopea odorata ''Hopea odorata'' is a species of tree in the plant family Dipterocarpaceae. It is found in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Description ''H. odorata'' is a large tree reaching up to in hei ...

'' trees. These are very large trees known as ''Ta-khian'' (ตะเคียน) in Thai, hence her name.

Legends

The Nang Ta-khian belong to a type of spirits or

fairies A fairy (also called fay, fae, fae folk, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature, generally described as anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic, found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Cel ...

related to trees and known generically in

Thai folklore Thai folklore is a diverse set of mythology and traditional beliefs held by the Thai people. Most Thai folklore has a regional background for it originated in rural Thailand. With the passing of time, and through the influence of the media, large ...

as ''

Nang Mai Nang Mai () is a ghost from Thai folklore that inhabits a large tree. It builds a palace in the tree, but nobody can see it, and if anyone cuts that tree, the cutter will be cursed, grow sick, or even become crazy. Description Nang mai in Thai ...

'' (นางไม้, "Lady of the Tree").Spirits
/ref> Legends in the Thai

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

say the spirit inhabits a Ta-khian tree and sometimes appears as a beautiful young woman wearing traditional Thai attire, usually in reddish or brownish colours, contrasting with ''

Nang Tani Nang Tani (; "Lady of Tani") is a female spirit of the Thai folklore. According to folk tradition, this ghost appears as a young woman that haunts wild banana trees (''Musa balbisiana''), known in Thai language as ''Kluai Tani'' (กล้ว� ...

'' who is mostly represented in a green dress. Nang Ta-khian is generally a

sylvan Sylvan or Sylvans (from the Latin ''silva'': "forest, woods") can have one of the following meanings: A countryside scene The term "A Sylvan Scene" is used to describe a beautiful and idealised scene in the countryside. Historical reference: J ...

spirit, for the Ta-khian is a tall, massive tree that can live for centuries, naturally found in the forest and not near inhabited areas. As it has a large trunk and a wide-spreading root system, it is normally not planted close to homesteads. Like all ''

'', Nang Ta-khian haunts the immediate environment of her tree and she may also haunt a house having beams, stilts or pillars made from Ta-khian wood. She may hurt wicked or immoral people that come close to her abode, but righteous persons have nothing to fear from her. The tree is almost never felled for lumber, since the spirit will be furious and follow the wood. About the only place Ta-khian is used as lumber is in a

Buddhist monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which may ...

, where the merit of the monks is considered sufficient to render the spirit harmless. Traditionally trees where Ta-khian resides have lengths of colored

satin A satin weave is a type of Textile, fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back; it is not durable, as it tends to snag. It is one of three fundamen ...

cloth wrapped around their trunk. In order to protect venerable old trees from

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksBuddhist monks A ''bhikkhu'' (, ) is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male, and female monastics (''bhikkhunī''), are members of the Sangha (Buddhist community). The lives of all Buddhist monastics are governed by a set of rules called the prātimo ...

use to wrap lengths of satin around them and in case of having to cut the tree a special ceremony had to be performed to ask for permission. However, in present times some of these very ancient trees are felled anyway for their wood, even though it is said to be dangerous for a person to cut such a tree without the previous consent of the spirit inhabiting it.

Temples and shrines

In some parts of Thailand, Nang Ta-khian has become a popular

tree deity In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only pla ...

. Miracles are attributed to her power and not only living trees, but also logs, beams or

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element of a watercraft, important for stability. On some sailboats, it may have a fluid dynamics, hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose as well. The keel laying, laying of the keel is often ...

s of wooden boats where the spirit is deemed to reside are an object of pilgrimage and have lengths of colored silk tied as an offering. In present times, Nang Ta-Khian is usually propitiated in order to be lucky in the

lottery A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find som ...

. Most Nang Ta-khian shrines are quite humble, but larger temples and shrines dedicated to Nang Ta-Khian are found in locations such as Sao Hai District, Saraburi Province and Amphawa District,

Samut Songkhram Province Samut Songkhram (, ) is one of the central Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand. Neighbouring provinces are (from the south clockwise) Phetchaburi province, Phetchaburi, Ratchaburi province, Ratchaburi and Samut Sakhon pr ...

, the shrine being part of a larger temple compound in some places.

Offerings and shrines

Modern adaptations

This folk spirit is featured in the 2003

Thai film The cinema of Thailand dates back to the History of film, early days of filmmaking, when Chulalongkorn, King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by François-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, whe ...

Ta-khian ("The Haunted Tree"), with

Sorapong Chatree Sorapong Chatree (; born Pittaya Tiamswate; 8 December 1950 – 10 March 2022) was a Thai film actor. He frequently starred in the films of Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol, as well as in Cherd Songsri's classic romance, '' Plae Kao''. Biography He ...

and 2010 movie

Nang Ta-khian Nang Ta-khian (, "Lady of Ta-khian") is a female spirit of the folklore of Thailand. It manifests itself as a woman that haunts ''Hopea odorata'' trees. These are very large trees known as ''Ta-khian'' (ตะเคียน) in Thai, hence her n ...

("Takien: The Haunted Tree").Nang Ta-khian ("Takien: The Haunted Tree")
/ref> Nang Ta-khian has a role as well in the Nak animated movie.

References

External links