From “Jao Poo” to “Phaya Sri Suddho Bodhisattva”: A Modification of Naga Cosmology Belief of Kham Chanot People

Abstract

This article attempts to draw a modification of the Naga cosmological aspects in the Kham Chanot Community, Bandung,
Udon Thani. Naga belief is a traditional belief and is the center of cosmology beliefs of this community.

The transformation on the Naga concept is divided into two periods. Firstly, between the 2480s–the 2500s, when the Sri Suddho Naga was considered as “Jao Poo,” an ancestor spirit who gave life to all creatures, had extraordinary power over human, and was regarded as the community’s guardian.Secondly, a physical or ideological modification of the Thai state during the 2510s and the 2550s which has formed a combined belief between the Naga concept and Buddhism resulted in the reinterpretation of Sri Suddho Naga as the ‘Bodhisattva’. This is a unique belief of the folk religion in Kham Chanot in which Naga has been redefined by local people to be a new religion combined with their former belief.