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Devaraja (Sanskrit:देवराज,romanized: Devarāja) was the religious and political concept of the "god-king" ordeifiedmonarch in ancient and medievalIndia andSoutheast Asia.[1] The concept of the devaraja developed from bothHinduism and other, local traditions depending on the area.[2] It held that that the king was a divine, universal ruler and amanifestation ofthe gods (often attributed toShiva orVishnu) on Earth. The concept is closely related to the Indian concept ofchakravarti (universal emperor). In the political context, it was viewed as the divine justification of a king's rule. The concept was institutionalised and expanded in ancientJava andCambodia, where monuments such as thePrambanan and theAngkor Wat were erected to celebrate the king's divine rule on Earth.
The devaraja concept of thedivine status of kings was adopted by theIndianisedHindu-Buddhist kingdoms of Southeast Asia through the IndianBrahmin scholars that were deployed in the courts there. It was first adopted by Javanese kings, and thereafter by various Malay kingdoms, theKhmer Empire, and the Thai monarchies.
InSanskrit the Hindu origin termdeva-raja could have different meanings such as "god-king" or "king of the gods". InHindu pantheon the title of king of gods (devas) is held byIndra. Thus the mortal kingdom on earth mirrored the celestial kingdom of gods, the concept regarded the king as the living god on earth. It is also from influences inHinduism and separate local traditions.[citation needed]
Indian origin religions (also calledDharmic orIndic religions) originated in theIndian subcontinent; namelyHinduism,Jainism,Buddhism.[3][note 1].[4]Hinduism,Buddhism have many references regardingSoutheast Asia such asSuvarnabhumi.[4][5][6] As evidenced from thehistory of Indian influence on Southeast Asia, the Southeast Asian kingdoms adopted Indian Sanskrit terms and Hindu-Buddhist concepts through the process ofIndianisation and adoption ofSanskrit language ; the evolution and spread of the concept of Deveraja is one such example.
The Devaraja concept evolved from the earlier Indian concept of"Chakravarti". Chakravarti refers to an ideal universal ruler,[7] especially in the sense of an imperial ruler of the entireIndian sub-continent (as in the case of theMaurya Empire).[8] The first references to aChakravala Chakravartin appear in monuments from the time of the early Maurya Empire, in the 4th to 3rd century BCE, in reference toChandragupta Maurya and his grandsonAshoka. In Hinduism, the term generally denotes a powerful ruler whose dominion extended to the entire earth. InBuddhist kingship andJainism, the term generally applies to temporal as well as spiritual kingship and leadership. In Buddhism, the Chakravarti came to be considered the counterpart of aBuddha.
Ashoka was an emperor of the Maurya empire, who ruled almost all of theIndian subcontinent fromc. 268 to 232 BCE.[9] For the spread of Buddhism, he sentBuddhist missions to 9 destinations, including Tibet and China, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia.[10][11][12] Establishment of these early era links led to the ongoing transmission of Indian concepts to Southeast Asia.
The Devaraja concept has been established through rituals and institutionalized within theIndianized kingdoms of Southeast Asia. It enables the monarch to claim the divine authority which could be used on ensuring political legitimacy, managing social order, economic and religious aspects. In political aspects, it strengthens the justification of the king and the ruling dynasty as the rightful ruler of the land. It is also used to maintain social order, exalting the king as a living god definitely demands the utmost service and devotion of his people. Introducing ofHindu,Buddhist religions to Southeast Asia led to adoption of many new customs.
The Devaraja religious order also enabled the king to embark on large scale public works and grand projects, by mobilizing their people to create and maintain elaboratehydraulic irrigation systems to support large scalerice agriculture or to construct imposing grand monuments and temples in the king's honor. The examples of these grand projects areBorobudur,Prambanan, and also temples andbarays inAngkor.
Example of the Devaraja religious order — such as demonstrated byJayavarman II — associate the king with the Hindu deity Sri Shiva, whose divine essence was physically embodied by the linga (orlingam), a phallic idol housed in a mountain temple.[2] The king was deified in an elaborate and mystical ceremony, requiring a high priest, in which the divine essence of kingship was conferred on the ruler through the agency of the linga. The safeguarding of the linga became bound up with the security of the kingdom, and the great temple architecture of the Khmer period attests to the importance attached to the belief.[2]
InTamil culture, especially during theSangam period, emperors were known as இறையர் (Iraiyer), or "those who spill", and kings were called கோ (Ko) or கோன் (Kon). During this time, king is venerated as representative of God. Even in ModernTamil, the word for temple is 'கோயில்', meaning "king's house".[13] Kings were understood to be the "agents of God", as they protected the world like God did.[14] This may well have been continued till early medieval period inTamilakam, as the famous Thiruvalangadu inscription states:
"Having noticed by the marks (on his body) that Arulmozhi was the very Vishnu" in reference to the EmperorRaja Raja Chola I.
Indianised Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of Southeast Asia deployed the IndianHindu andBuddhist traders, monks, priests as scholars in their courts. Under the influence of these scholars these kingdoms adopted the concept of devaraja. It was first adopted by the IndianisedHindu-Buddhist kingdoms of Java. The Khmer empire which ruled Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam and other parts of the nearby present day nations adopted it from the Javanese kings. Eventually, Thai kings adopted the concept from the nearby Khmer empire.
The concept of devaraja or God King was the ancient Cambodian state religion,[2] but it probably originated in Java where the Hindu influence first reached Southeast Asia.[1][15] Circa 8th century, Sailendras allegedly ruled over Java, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and parts of Cambodia.[16] In ancient Java, sinceSailendra dynasty.[clarification needed] The devaraja concept is believed to have been introduced to Java in 732, whenking Sanjaya installed a linga to consecrate a newMataram Dynasty, as stated inCanggal inscription, thus the king sought Shiva's protection of his rule.[17]
In the even olderTarumanagara kingdom, the state religion regarded the king as god incarnated on earth. The Tarumanagara fifth century CECiaruteun inscription, inscribed with king'ssole print, regarded King Purnawarman as the incarnation of Vishnu on Earth.[18] The Kebon Kopi I inscription, also calledTelapak Gajah stone, with an inscription and the engraving of two large elephant footprints, associated king's elephant ride asAiravata (elephant ride of GodIndra), thus associated the king also with Indra.
InMataram kingdom in Central Java, it is customary to erectcandi (temple) to honor and sent the soul of a dead king. The image of god inside thegarbhagriha (central chamber) of the temple often portrayed the deceased king as a god, as the soul of the dead king finally united with the revered god inSvargaloka. Some archaeologists propose that the statue ofShiva in the garbhagriha ofPrambanan's main temple was modelled afterKing Balitung, serving as a depiction of his posthumous deified self.[19] It is suggested that the concept was the fusion of Hinduism with nativeAustronesianancestor worship.[20] The 11th century great kingAirlangga ofKahuripan in East Java, was deified posthumously as Vishnu in Belahan temple. In Java, the tradition of divine king continued well toKediri,Singhasari, andMajapahit kingdom in the 15th century.
After the coming ofIslam in the archipelago and the fall of Majapahit, the concept of God-King most likely ceased to exist in Java, since Islam rejects the concept of divinity in mortal human being. Yet the concept survived in traditional Javanese mysticism ofKejawen aswahyu, suggesting that every king and ruler in Java was bestowedwahyu, a divine authority and mandate from God.[21] A heavenly mandate that could be revoked and transferred by God, to explain the change of dynasty in Java duringDemak,Mataram Sultanate era, well to the succession of thepresident of Indonesia.[clarification needed]
In ancient Cambodia, devarāja is recognized as the state's institutionalized religion. The Cambodian concept of the "god-king" is believed to have been established early in the 9th century by Jayavarman II, founder of the Khmer empire of Angkor, with the Brahmana scholar Sivakaivalya as his first chief priest atMahendraparvata.[22]: 97, 99 For centuries, the concept provided the religious basis of the royal authority of the Khmer kings.[2]
In aKhmer context the term was used in the latter sense as "god-king", but occurs only in the Sanskrit portion of the inscription K. 235 fromSdok Kak Thom / Sdok Kăk Thoṃ (in modern Thailand) dated 8 February 1053 CE, referring to the Khmer termkamrateṅ jagat ta rāja ("Lord of the Universe who is King") describing the protective deity of the Khmer Empire, a distinctly Khmer deity, which was mentioned before in the inscription K. 682 of Chok Gargyar (Kòḥ Ker) dated 921/22 CE.[23]
In the Sdok Kăk Thoṃ inscription, a member of a brahmana family claimed that his ancestors since the time ofJayavarman II (Khmer:ជ័យវរ្ម័នទី២), who established around 800 CE by marriage to the daughter of a local king in the Angkor region, a small realm which became at the end of the 9th century the famousKhmer Empire, were responsible for the concept of the Devarāja (kamrateṅ jagat ta rāja). Historians formerly dated his reign as running from 802 CE to 850 CE, but these dates are of very late origin (11th century) and without any historical basis. Some scholars[24] now have tried to identify Jayavarman II with Jayavarman Ibis who is known from his inscriptions from Práḥ Thãt Práḥ Srĕi south of Kompoṅ Čàṃ (K. 103, dated 20 April 770)[25] and from Lobŏ’k Srót in the vicinity of Kračèḥ close to the ancient town of Śambhupura (K. 134, dated 781 CE[26]). The Sdok Kăk Thoṃ inscription incised c. 250 years after the events (of which their historicity is doubtful) recounts that on the top of the Kulen Hills, Jayavarman II instructed a Brahmana priest named Hiraṇyadāman to conduct a religious ritual known as the concept of the devarāja (Khmer:ទេវរាជា) which placed him as acakravartin, universal monarch, a title never heard of before in Cambodia.[22]: 99
Coedes states, "...in southern India, Mount Mahendra was considered the residence of Siva as king of all gods (devaraja), including Indra Devaraja, and as sovereign of the country where the mountain stands. The ritual of the Devaraja established by the Brahmana Hiranydama was based on four texts -Vinasikha,Nayottara,Sammoha, andSiraccheda...the four faces ofTumburu. TheseTantras "were supposed to have been uttered by the four mouths of Siva represented by thegandharva Tumburu." He goes on to state, "In the Indianized kingdoms of Southeast Asia, the Hindu cults...eventually became royal cults. The essence of royalty...was supposed to reside in alinga...obtained from Siva through a Brahmana who delivered it to the king...the communion between the king and the god through the medium of a priest took place on the sacred mountain."[22]: 100–101
Khmer emperorJayavarman II is widely regarded as the king that set the foundation of theAngkor period in Cambodian history, beginning with the grandiose consecration ritual conducted by Jayavarman II (reign 790–835) in 802 on sacred MountMahendraparvata, now known asPhnom Kulen, to celebrate the independence of Kambuja fromJavanese dominion (presumably the "neighboring Chams", orchvea).[27] At that ceremony Prince Jayavarman II was proclaimed a universal monarch (Kamraten jagad ta Raja in Cambodian) or God King (Deva Raja in Sanskrit).[28]: 58–59 According to some sources, Jayavarman II had resided for some time inJava during the reign ofSailendras, or "The Lords of Mountains", hence the concept of Devaraja or God King was ostensibly imported from Java. At that time, Sailendras allegedly ruled over Java, Sumatra, the Malay Peninsula and parts of Cambodia.[29]An inscription from theSdok Kak Thom temple recounts that at Mahendraparvata, Jayavarman II took part in a ritual by the Brahmana Hiranyadama, and his chief priest Lord Sivakaivalya, known as devaraja (Khmer:ទេវរាជា) which placed him as achakravartin, Lord of the Universe.[22]: 99–101
Today, the tradition of public reverence to theKing of Cambodia is said to be the continuation of this ancient concept of devaraja,[citation needed] and is mistakenly said of theKing of Thailand.[30]
This concept of "god-king" (Thai:เทวราชา) (or "divine king") was adopted by theThai kings from the ancient Khmer tradition of devaraja followed in the region, and the Hindu concept of kingship was applied to the status of the Thai king. The concept centered on the idea that the king was an incarnation (avatar) of the godVishnu and that he was aBodhisattva (enlightened one), therefore basing his power on his religious power, his moral power, and his purity of blood.
Priests took charge in theroyal coronation. The king was treated as areincarnation ofHindu gods. Ayutthaya historical documents show the official titles of the kings in great variation:Indra,Shiva andVishnu, orRama. Seemingly, Rama was the most popular, as in "Ramathibodhi". However, Buddhist influence was also evident, as many times the king's title and "unofficial" name "Dhammaraja", an abbreviation of theBuddhist Dharmaraja. The two former concepts were re-established, with a third, older concept taking hold.
The king, portrayed by state interests as a semi-divine figure, then became—through a rigid cultural implementation—an object of worship and veneration to his people. From then on the monarchy was largely removed from the people and continued under a system of absolute rule. Living in palaces designed afterMount Meru ("home of the gods" in Hinduism), the kings turned themselves into a "Chakravartin", where the king became an absolute and universal lord of his realm. Kings demanded that the universe be envisioned asrevolving around them, and expressed their powers through elaborate rituals and ceremonies. For four centuries these kings ruled Ayutthaya, presiding over some of the greatest period of cultural, economic, and military growth inThai History.
In theMalay Annals, therajas andsultans of the Malay states (today encompassing modernPattani,Malaysia,Indonesia,Brunei andPhilippines) as well as their predecessors, such as the kingdom ofMajapahit inJava, also claimed divine right to rule. The sultan is mandated by God and thus is expected to lead his country and people in religious matters, ceremonies as well as prayers. This divine right is calleddaulat (from the Arabic termdawlah 'state'), and although the notion of divine right is somewhat obsolete, it is still found in the phraseDaulat Tuanku (lit. 'thine power') that is used to publicly acclaim the reigning monarch (e.g.Yang di-Pertuan Agong andother sultans in Malaysia). The exclamation is essentially similar to the European "Long live the King" or the Chinesewànsuì, and often accompanies pictures of the reigning monarch andhis consort on banners during royal occasions. InIndonesia, especially on the island ofJava, the sultan's divine right is more commonly known as thewahyu, or 'revelation', but it is not hereditary and can be passed on to distant relatives.
... to-day we find the only certain relic of the cult of the Royal God in the symbolism of the Coronation Ceremony by which the priests call down the spirits of Visnu and Siva to animate the new king ...
