Bathouism

Bathouism
Bathou flag
Founder
unknown
Regions with significant populations
Assam, Northeast India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal
Religions
ethnic religion of Boro people
Languages
Boro language

Bathouism (also, Bathou) is the folk religion of the Boro people of Assam in Northeast India.[4] The name Bathou (Ba, five; thou, deep)[5] in Boro means five principles.[6] The five principles are: bar (air), orr (fire), ha (earth), dwi (water) and okhrang (ether).[7] The chief deity, called Bathoubwrai (bwarai: "the Elder")— omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent— is said to have created the five principles. Though there are other minor gods and goddesses, Bathoubwrai is considered the Supreme God. Bathoubwrai is unseen. The second most important deity is Mainao, the daughter of Bathoubwrai, who is considered as the "protector of the rice fields".[8][9]

  1. ^ "639 Identifier Documentation: aho – ISO 639-3". SIL International (formerly known as the Summer Institute of Linguistics). SIL International. Retrieved 29 June 2019. Ahom [aho]
  2. ^ "Population by Religious Communities". Census India – 2001. Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 1 July 2019. Census Data Finder/C Series/Population by Religious Communities
  3. ^ "Population by religion community – 2011". Census of India, 2011. The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Archived from the original on 25 August 2015. 2011census/C-01/DDW00C-01 MDDS.XLS
  4. ^ "Bathou is the name of traditional religion of the Boros." Narzary 2014, p. 2
  5. ^ Narzary 2014, p. 28
  6. ^ "The meaning of the term ‘Bathou ’ is five deep principle of creation." Narzary 2014, p. 2
  7. ^ ".(O)f earth, water, air, fire and ether (ha, dwi, bar, or and okhrang). Narzary 2014, p. 3
  8. ^ Endle 1911, p. 37
  9. ^ Narzary 2014, p. 39