Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak (TRC) is the traditional religions followed by 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. It is a

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, ...

religion based on the fundamental belief of Tingkao Ragwang, the supreme god or almighty and other smaller Sylvan Dieties.

Etymology

''Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak'' means "the religion of the heavenly god" in Zemeic languages. ''Tingkao Ragwang'' means the "Heavenly God" or "God of the sky" and ''Chapriak'' means "religion".

Gods and symbolism

Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak is a

religion. The primary god is the Tingkao Ragwang, the almighty and creator god. 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. Tingkao Ragwang 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 ...

, 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 ...

, the

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 ...

, 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

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 ...

. The other gods in the pantheon include the brotherly gods of Bisnu, Naptime, Karangong, Koloa, Chongchai, Charakilongmei and Dimei. Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak uses a symbol called ''Boudan'' made of crisscrossed lines representing the

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

within a circle, representing the universe, with the sun and moon inside, all of which are the creation of Tingwang.

Beliefs

Tingkao Ragwang is the eternal god with the ultimate source and power of the universe and is the prime subject of religious devotion. He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. Tingwang is the creator, operator and destroyer and 'the king of the Gods' with no end or beginning. 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. As per traditional beliefs, souls after the separation from body live in ''Taroilam'', presided over by god ''Taroigong'' and packets of food called ''Thei Napdom'' are buried along with the dead bodies for the journey. The soul of a person who had passed away after the preceding year's festival has not yet made to the final destination and homage to the departed souls are done by the individual families to enable the souls to reach the final destination.

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, ...

is the dwelling place of God and symbolizes light and happiness. Tingkao Ragwang Chapriak people believe in the existence of heaven at Tingkao Kaidai, the abode of Tingkao Ragwang. Only if the soul is free from all feelings and if one has live a righteous life, then the soul will proceed to reach the realm of Tingwang..

Practices

Gaan-Ngai is a festival of light, celebrating the victory of light over evil. 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 the God 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 the festival also involves sacrifice and rituals to the other gods and goddesses of the lower realm.

References

{{reflist Ethnic religions in Asia Indian religions Polytheism