Tingkao Ragwang or Tingwang is a god of the

Zeliangrong The Zeliangrong people are one of the major indigenous Naga communities living in the tri-junction of Assam, Manipur and Nagaland in India. They are the descendants of Nguiba. The term "Zeliangrong" refers to the Zeme, Liangmai and Rongmei ...

people (indigenous Zeme, Liangmei and Rongmei tribes) of

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

and

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

states in

North Eastern India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political administrative division of the country. It comprises eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, M ...

. He is considered as the almighty god who created the

universe The universe is all of space and time and their contents. It comprises all of existence, any fundamental interaction, physical process and physical constant, and therefore all forms of matter and energy, and the structures they form, from s ...

including the

sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

and the

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

, after which life began.

Heraka Jadonang Malangmei (1905–1931), popularly known as Haipou Jadonang, was a Naga spiritual leader and political activist from Manipur, British India. He established the ''Heraka'' religious movement, which was based on the ancestral Naga religio ...

and

Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak (TRC) is the traditional religions followed by the Zeliangrong people (indigenous Zeme, Liangmei and Rongmei tribes) of Assam, Manipur and Nagaland states in North Eastern India. It is a polytheistic religion based on ...

are the two traditional religions based on the fundamental belief of Tingkao Ragwang, followed by the Zeliangrong people. The annual

Gaan-Ngai Gaan-Ngai is a festival of the Zeliangrong people (indigenous Zeme, Liangmei and Rongmei tribes) of Assam, Manipur and Nagaland states in North Eastern India. Gaan-Ngai is a festival of light, celebrating the victory of light over evil and ...

festival is dedicated to Tingwang.

Etymology

''Tingkao Ragwang'' means the "Heavenly God" or "God of the sky" in the

Zemeic languages The Zemeic, Zeme, Zeliangrong or Western NagaMortensen, David R. (2003). �Comparative Tangkhul” Unpublished Qualifying Paper, UC Berkeley. are a languages branch of Sino-Tibetan languages spoken mostly in Indian state of Nagaland, Assam and Ma ...

. He is also known as ''Buhshinmeipu-Buhdameipu'', the giver and protector of the soul. He is also called as ''Samtingphenpu'' meaning one sporting a long hair.

Theology and historical development

According to traditional beliefs, Tingwang is the eternal god with no beginning or end, no father or mother and he is the source of all life and good. He is the architect of every life, source of knowledge and wisdom and nothing can be created without his will. He is beyond believed to be beyond time and space and described as omnipresent (present everywhere), omniscient (infinite knowledge), omnipotent (unlimited power) and omnibenevolent (perfect goodness). It is believed that he lives in the

heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

above the sky called ''Tingkao Kaidai'' or ''Tingkao Ragwang kai'' with ''kai'' meaning "abode" in Zemic. According to the beliefs, Tingkao Ragwang created the

, the

, other celestial bodies and the natural elements of

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

and

. Depending on the beliefs, Tingwang wanted to create human beings who could rule the world, make offerings and remember him. For the purpose, he created two deities named ''Dampapu'' and ''Dampapui'' to create the human beings. The two deities took a long time to create the first human beings, but the first man and woman were lifeless and could not move their limbs. Tingwang then gave ''Buh'' ("soul") and life began. According to the beliefs, every creature has a soul which cannot be seen but felt by placing the hands against the heart and when someone dies, the soul never dies. The ultimate goal of the human soul is to reach the abode of Tingwang.

Worship

'' and ''

'' (TRC) are the two traditional religions based on the fundamental belief of Tingkao Ragwang, followed by the Zeliangrong people. The main difference between the religions is that Heraka is

monotheistic Monotheism is the belief that one God is the only, or at least the dominant deity.F. L. Cross, Cross, F.L.; Livingstone, E.A., eds. (1974). "Monotheism". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (2 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. A ...

, while Chapriak is

polytheistic Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one Deity, god. According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese folk religions, is really so, ...

. In Zemic, ''Heraka'' literally means "pure" with ''Hera'' referring to smaller deities and ''Ka'' meaning "fence or obstruct". So all sacrifices associated with the smaller gods must be avoided and only Tingkao Ragwang must be worshiped. In contrast, followers of TRC offer rituals and sacrifice to the brother gods, Vishnu, Naptime, Karagong, Koloa, Chongchai, Charakilongmei and Dimei, with the primary worship of Tingwang. Tingwang was worshiped in no specific form till the 20th century.

Haipou Jadonang Jadonang Malangmei (1905–1931), popularly known as Haipou Jadonang, was a Naga people, Naga spiritual leader and political activist from Manipur, British India. He established the ''Heraka'' religious movement, which was based on the ancestral ...

, a prophet, introduced reforms in the traditional worship, abolishing irrational practices and introduced the worship of Tingwang through prayer. He introduced worshiping Tingwang by putting the hands together, facing east and saying "Ragwang, Do what is good for us." He composed religious hymns, constructed a temple called ''Kao Kai'' and introduced idol worship similar to

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. Heraka uses a symbol of

earring Earrings are jewelry that can be worn on one's ears. Earrings are commonly worn in a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear, or by #Clip-on and other non-pierced earrings, some other means, such as stickers or clip-ons. Earr ...

. TRC uses crisscrossed lines within the circle representing the Zodiac with the sun and moon which are the creation of Tingwang.

Festival

is a festival is celebrated as to commemorate the coming of light or fire, given by Tingwang. It is a

post Post, POST, or posting may refer to: Postal services * Mail, the postal system, especially in Commonwealth of Nations countries **An Post, the Irish national postal service **Canada Post, Canadian postal service **Deutsche Post, German postal s ...

harvest festival A harvest festival is an annual Festival, celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different ...

celebrated to thank Tingkao Ragwang for a good harvest season and heralds the beginning of a new year. The festival is celebrated for five days and involves congregational prayers and invocation to the almighty god Tingkao Ragwang. Tingkao Rangwang is offered the first taste of meals and drinks, prepared during the festival and also involves other festivities like music and dance.

Reference

{{reflist Knowledge gods Creator gods