Thagyamin (, ; from

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, ) is the highest-ranking nat (deity) in traditional Burmese Buddhist belief. Considered as the king of Heaven, he is the Burmese adaptation of the

Hindu deities Hindu deities are the gods and goddesses in Hinduism. Deities in Hinduism are as diverse as its traditions, and a Hindu can choose to be polytheistic, pantheistic, monotheistic, monistic, even agnostic, atheistic, or humanist. Julius J. L ...

Indra Indra (; ) is the Hindu god of weather, considered the king of the Deva (Hinduism), Devas and Svarga in Hinduism. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes Indra is the m ...

Etymology

Thagyamin () is derived from the combination of the Sanskrit word " Shakra" (शक्र; a synonym of

) and the Burmese word "Min" (; a common title meaning Lord/King). He is also known by his nickname ''U Magha'' () derived from his preexistential name.

Description

Thagyamin is often portrayed as holding a conch shell in one hand, and a yak-tail fly-whisk in the other, and seated or standing atop a three-headed

white elephant A white elephant is a possession that its owner cannot dispose of without extreme difficulty, and whose cost, particularly that of maintenance, is out of proportion to its usefulness. In modern usage, it is a metaphor used to describe an object, ...

( Airavata). He is described as the ruler of the celestial kingdom

Trāyastriṃśa The (Sanskrit; Pali ), (''Tushita''; ''Heaven of the Thirty-three''), is an important celestial realm of the devas in Buddhist cosmology. The word ' is an adjective formed from the numeral ', or "33" and can be translated in English as "bel ...

(). He was designated as the supreme deity of the official pantheon of 37 ''ahtet nat'' (အထက်နတ်, upper deities) by King Anawrahta in the 11th century, in an effort to streamline animist and

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

practices among the populace and merge these practices with

Theravada Buddhism ''Theravāda'' (; 'School of the Elders'; ) is Buddhism's oldest existing school. The school's adherents, termed ''Theravādins'' ( anglicized from Pali ''theravādī''), have preserved their version of the Buddha's teaching or '' Dhamma'' in ...

. He is the only nat in the official pantheon not to have undergone a sudden and violent death, called a "raw" death (အစိမ်းသေ). According to Burmese traditional folklore, every year at the first day of

Thingyan Thingyan (/sɛŋkəmɑ/ ; , Old Mon language, Old Mon: သင်ကြာန် ), also known as the Myanmar New Year, is a festival that usually occurs in middle of April. Thingyan marks the transition from the old year to the new one, based on ...

(the Burmese new year), Thagyamin visits the earth while being invisible. There, he observes every person: he records the names of good people in a golden book, and writes the names of evildoers in a book made of dog-skin leather. On the third day of Thingyan, he returns to heaven.

Gallery

File:Thagyamin.png, A portrayal of the King of gods, Thagyamin File:Thagyamin Nat.jpg File:Thagyamin at Shwedagon Pagoda.jpg, Thagyamin at the Shwedagon Pagoda

References

*01 Indra Buddhist gods {{Asia-myth-stub

Etymology

Description

Gallery

See also

References