Devaraja
Sign in to savethumb|right|upright|The statue of Harihara, the god amalgamation of [[Shiva and Vishnu, as the mortuary deified portrayal of King Kertarajasa of Majapahit. Revering the king as god incarnated on earth is the concept of devaraja.]]
Article
15 sectionsContents
- Etymology and evolution
- Devaraja concept of "the divine ruler"
- Purpose
- Ritual
- Adoption of the devaraja concept
- Indian Subcontinent
- South India
- Indianized polities in Southeast Asia
- Javanese kingdoms
- Cambodia and Khmer empire
- Thailand
- Other Indianised Rajanates and Sultanates in Southeast Asia
- See also
- References
- Notes
thumb|right|upright|The statue of Harihara, the god amalgamation of [[Shiva and Vishnu, as the mortuary deified portrayal of King Kertarajasa of Majapahit. Revering the king as god incarnated on earth is the concept of devaraja.]]
Devaraja () was the religious and political concept of the "god-king" or deified monarch in ancient and medieval India and Southeast Asia. The concept of the devaraja developed from both Hinduism and other, local traditions depending on the area. It held that that the king was a divine, universal ruler and a manifestation of the gods (often attributed to Shiva or Vishnu) on Earth. The concept is closely related to the Indian concept of chakravarti (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 ancient Java, Cambodia and Thailand, where monuments such as the Prambanan, Ayutthaya and the Angkor Wat were erected to celebrate the king's divine rule on Earth.