Manimekhala

"Mekhala" redirects here. For Buddhist mahasiddha, see Mekhala and Kanakhala.
For other uses, see Manimekalai (disambiguation).
Illustrated of Mekhala and Ramasura, from a samut khoi of Thai poetry in the second half of the 19th century. Now in the collection of Bavarian State Library, Germany.

Manimekhala (Pali: Maṇīmekhalā) is a goddess in the Hindu-Buddhist mythology. She is regarded as a guardian of the seas, namely the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea as part of the mythology of Southeast Asia. She was placed by Cātummahārājika to protect virtuous beings from shipwreck.[1] She appears in several Buddhist stories including the Mahanipata Jataka (Mahajanaka Jataka), in which she rescues Prince Mahajanaka from a shipwreck.[2]

  1. ^ G.P. Malalasekera. Dictionary of Pali Proper Names: Pali-English. Asian Educational Services, 2003
  2. ^ Anne Elizabeth Monius. Imagining a place for Buddhism: literary culture and religious community in Tamil-speaking South India. Oxford University Press US, 2001, pages 111-112