The Lords of Creation, also known as the Vedic pantheon, were deities worshiped by the Kuong people of the Kuong Kingdom and by the Purang people, in the Malatra region of southern Kara-Tur.[1][2]
Description[]
Indra's elephant
The pantheon was a close family of deities, with each member associated with specific aspects of life and existence.[1]
Garuda, king of all birds
Known members were:
- Indra, a goddess, along with her elephant;[1][3]
- Yama, a god, along with his water buffalo;[1][3]
- Garuda[1]
Legends[]
The Kuong believed that in ancient times the goddess Indra once mounted her elephant and rode through the heavens. A footprint it made in the void became the hills and valleys of Malatra. However, her brother Yama claimed much of this newly created land for himself. The sibling deities quarreled, but Yama kept control. Thus Indra raged and wept and her tears became the monsoons and the rivers of Malatra. Afterward, Yama populated the land with animals and peoples he had created. Thereafter, with great interest, he monitored their development.[3]
Early on, Malatra was reigned over by Yama's near-demigods, but over the centuries they declined in power and stature. In time, their descendants became the ordinary humans of Malatra. The Kuong most firmly recalled this point, and maintained that the direct descendants of the Lords of Creation were their divine priest-kings.[3]
Worshipers[]
Worship of the Lords of Creation in Malatra appeared to have been adopted from a culture lying to the southwest, outside Kara-Tur itself.[1][note 1]
The faith was the state religion of the theocracy of the Kuong Kingdom. It was not uncommon for worshipers to follow more than one deity in the pantheon, but Kuong monks, shukenja, and sohei notably followed only a single deity. However, Kuong followers of the Lords of Creation did not typically engage in philosophical considerations and did not place much value in respecting nature spirits. In fact, they were considered some of the most authoritarian and arbitrary believers of any faith in the Malatra region. Extravagant temples to the Lords of Creation were found all across the Kuong Kingdom, along with a network of monasteries that both trained priests and served as administrative centers for the kingdom.[1]
The hill tribes of the Purang people, in the Purang region of Malatra, occasionally venerated members of the Lords of Creation alongside their Elemental Tribes. They favored Garuda, Indra and her elephant, and Yama and his water buffalo.[1]
Appendix[]
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Notes[]
- ↑ It is unknown where this is and the Vedic deities have not been identified elsewhere in the Realms. A strong candidate is the Utter East, which has various Indian and Southeast Asian elements in some depictions
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Mike Pondsmith, Jay Batista, Rick Swan, John Nephew, Deborah Christian (1988). Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (Volume II). (TSR, Inc), p. 105. ISBN 0-88038-608-8.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Colin McComb (October 1996). On Hallowed Ground. Edited by Ray Vallese. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 154–157. ISBN 0-7869-0430-5.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Mike Pondsmith, Jay Batista, Rick Swan, John Nephew, Deborah Christian (1988). Kara-Tur: The Eastern Realms (Volume II). (TSR, Inc), p. 106. ISBN 0-88038-608-8.