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Concept
Devaraja
Summary
"Devarāja" was a religious order of the "god-king," or deified monarch in medieval Southeast Asia. The devarāja order grew out of both Hinduism and separate local traditions depending on the area. It taught that the king was a divine universal ruler, a manifestation of Bhagawan (often attributed to Shiva or Vishnu). The concept viewed the monarch to possess transcendental quality, the king as the living god on earth. The concept is closely related to the Bharati concept of Chakravartin (universal monarch). In politics, it is viewed as the divine justification of a king's rule. The concept was institutionalized and gained its elaborate manifestations in ancient Java and Cambodia, where monuments such as Prambanan and Angkor Wat were erected to celebrate the king's divine rule on earth.
The devaraja concept of divine right of kings was adopted by the Indianised Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of Southeast Asia through Indian Hindu Brahmins scholars deployed in the courts. It was first adopted by Javanese kings and through them by various Malay kingdoms, then by the Khmer empire, and subsequently by the Thai monarchies.
History of Indian influence on Southeast Asia Greater India Indosphere and Indic religions
In Sanskrit the Hindu origin term deva-raja could have different meanings such as "god-king" or "king of the gods". In Hindu pantheon the title of king of gods (devas) is held by Indra. 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 in Hinduism and separate local traditions.
Indian origin religions (also called Dharmic or Indic religions) originated in the Indian subcontinent; namely Hinduism, and its later offshoots such as Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism.. Hinduism, Buddhism have many references regarding Southeast Asia such as Suvarnabhumi. As evidenced from the history of Indian influence on Southeast Asia, the Southeast Asian kingdoms adopted Indian Sanskrit terms and Hindu-Buddhist concepts through the process of Indianisation and adoption of Sanskrit language ; the evolution and spread of the concept of Deveraja is once such example.
Official source
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