Neak ta

A neak ta (អ្នកតា, ) is a Cambodian ancestral or tutelary deity, believed locally to watch over people, places, and things, as long as they are paid proper respect. Neak ta in Khmer translates as the ancestor. A neak ta can be either feminine or masculine, and most often they operate as a couple. Though the origins of the neak ta lose themselves in the night of time, they are believed to originate in a certain worship of nature. The cult of the neak ta may be regarded as a foundational layer upon which later traditions have been overlaid. The cult of the neak ta contains primitive religious elements, such as lacking dogma and a priesthood, as it preceded both Brahmanism and Buddhism in Cambodia. In the Angkorian period, the worship of the devaraja as kamraten jagat, protective genius linked to dynasties and places can be seen as new valorisation of the ruling king of his own neak ta. The veneration of neak ta is still present among the ancient Khmer Empire outside of the contemporary borders of Cambodia, as these neak ta rituals have been observed among the Khmer Surin in Thailand and the Khmer Krom in Vietnam. In Laos, phìbàn (ຜີບ້ານ) are Laotian equivalents of the neak ta, although the phìbàn are geographically more specific and functionally less well-defined. After the fall of Angkor, King Ang Chan I (1510-1560) also known as Preah Baromei is associated with the elevation of the most famous neak ta Khleang Moeung in Pursat. In his footsteps, King Ang Chan II (1806-1834) ordered that neak ta Sengha and neak ta Preah Ind be brought to a monastery voat Phnom Kngok Meas near Kampong Chhnang to ensure its prosperity. Until the XIXth century, insofar as the land belonged to anyone, it belonged to the spirits of the ancestors neak ta. Neak ta were mired in networks of protection, placation and patronage that resembled those tying governors and particular fiefdom. However, new administrative policies enacted in Cambodia during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century sought to shift this traditional "galactic" arrangement of power to one in which the central government had tighter control over outlying regions.