Buki — Phom creator-god
Tradition: Phom / Naga
This entry honours the self-representation of Phom tradition. India's sacred landscape includes hundreds of traditions beyond the Brahminical-Vedic canon. Each has its own cosmology, priesthood, ritual calendar, and relationship with the sacred landscape. Each deserves first-person recognition.
The Place
- Location: Longleng, Longleng, Nagaland (26.5°N, 94.8167°E)
- Tradition: Phom, Naga
- Historical: Pre-historic Phom; Christianization 20th c.
Story & Worship
The Phom (~50,000) of Longleng district, Nagaland — a smaller Naga tribe — worship Buki as the supreme creator. Their folk-tradition emphasizes Monyü (a harvest festival in April) and Moha (seed-festival). The Phom language, like other Tibeto-Burman Naga languages, has no traditional written form; cosmology is oral.
Mantra / Invocation
Oral Phom invocations
Festival Calendar
- Monyü (Chaitra (April), 3 days)
Sources
Drawn from scholarly ethnographies of Indian tribal and regional religions (Roy, Vidyarthi, Sinha, Fuchs, Sarkar, Sontheimer, Kinsley), colonial-era gazetteers, and contemporary community documentation.
Wisdom Graph: Divine Associations
- Offerings
- tradition-specific local offerings (rice-beer, eggs, grain, mithun, fowl, etc. per tradition)
- Sacred colours
- redwhite
🪔 Worship Procedures
- Daily rites
- • tradition-specific (see body)
- Puja sequence
- see body
🛕 Principal Temples
- Main shrine of Buki — Phom creator-godPre-historic Phom; Christianization 20th c.📍 Longleng, Longleng, Nagaland, IndiaFestivals: MonyüBuki — supreme deity of the Phom of Longleng
🎊 Festivals
- MonyüChaitra (April) · 3 days
📜 Primary Scriptural Sources
- Oral tradition of Phomliturgical chants / folk narrative
