A. Sutherland – AncientPages.com – Yama is the underworld god who rules hell and judges the dead.
A Hindu religious text, the Vishnu Purana, says that Yama is the son of the sun-god Surya; Yama and his sister Yami (‘reason’) are the first mortals. Yama also has a brother, Sraddhadeva Manu (the 7th Manu), the progenitor of the current humanity (of all the 14 Manus).
14th-century Chinese Yuan dynasty portrait of King Yama. One of a series of paintings of the “Ten Kings of Hell” by Lu Xinzhong. A collection of Nara National Museum (Important Cultural Property of Japan). Image credit: ColBase – CC BY 4.0
According to Hinduism and Buddhist traditions, Yama is also one of the lokapalas (“Guardians of Eight Directions”) who rule the directions of the visible world.
God Yama is the ruler of Diyu, a terrible hell. Legend has it that before Yama became the lord of the dead, he walked around the world and experienced many adventures.
This is a preview of our premium article, which is available only to members of Ancient Pages.
