"Devarāja" was a religious order of the "god-king," or deified monarch in medieval Southeast Asia. The devarāja order grew out of both Hinduism and separate local traditions depending on the area. It taught that the king was a divine universal ruler, a manifestation of Bhagawan (often attributed to Shiva or Vishnu). The concept viewed the monarch to possess transcendental quality, the king as the living god on earth. The concept is closely related to the Bharati concept of Chakravartin (universal monarch). In politics, it is viewed as the divine justification of a king's rule. The concept was institutionalized and gained its elaborate manifestations in ancient Java and Cambodia, where monuments such as Prambanan and Angkor Wat were erected to celebrate the king's divine rule on earth.
The devaraja concept of divine right of kings was adopted by the Indianised Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms of Southeast Asia through Indian Hindu Brahmins scholars deployed in the courts. It was first adopted by Javanese kings and through them by various Malay kingdoms, then by the Khmer empire, and subsequently by the Thai monarchies.
Etymology and evolution
In Sanskrit the Hindu origin term deva-raja could have different meanings such as "god-king" or "king of the gods". In Hindu pantheon the title of king of gods (devas) is held by Indra. Thus the mortal kingdom on earth mirrored the celestial kingdom of gods, the concept regarded the king as the living god on earth. It is also from influences in Hinduism and separate local traditions.
Indian origin religions (also called Dharmic or Indic religions) originated in the Indian subcontinent; namely Hinduism, and its later offshoots such as Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism.. Hinduism, Buddhism have many references regarding Southeast Asia such as Suvarnabhumi. As evidenced from the history of Indian influence on Southeast Asia, the Southeast Asian kingdoms adopted Indian Sanskrit terms and Hindu-Buddhist concepts through the process of Indianisation and adoption of Sanskrit language ; the evolution and spread of the concept of Deveraja is once such example.
The Devaraja concept evolved from the earlier Indian concept of "Chakravarti". Chakravarti refers to an ideal universal ruler, especially in the sense of an imperial ruler of the entire Indian sub-continent (as in the case of the Maurya Empire). The first references to a Chakravala Chakravartin appear in monuments from the time of the early Maurya Empire, in the 4th to 3rd century BCE, in reference to Chandragupta Maurya and his grandson Ashoka. In Hinduism, the term generally denotes a powerful ruler whose dominion extended to the entire earth. In Buddhist kingship and Jainism, the term generally applies to temporal as well as spiritual kingship and leadership. In Buddhism, the Chakravarti came to be considered the counterpart of a Buddha.
Ashoka was an emperor of the Maurya empire, who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from to 232 BCE. For the spread of Buddhism, he sent Buddhist missions to 9 destinations, including Tibet and China, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Establishment of these early era links led to the ongoing transmission of Indian concepts to Southeast Asia.
Devaraja concept of "the divine ruler"
Purpose
The Devaraja concept has been established through rituals and institutionalized within the Indianized kingdoms of Southeast Asia. It enables the monarch to claim the divine authority which could be used on ensuring political legitimacy, managing social order, economic and religious aspects. In political aspects, it strengthens the justification of the king and the ruling dynasty as the rightful ruler of the land. It is also used to maintain social order, exalting the king as a living god definitely demands the utmost service and devotion of his people. Introducing of Hindu, Buddhist religions to Southeast Asia led to adoption of many new customs.
The Devaraja religious order also enabled the king to embark on large scale public works and grand projects, by mobilizing their people to create and maintain elaborate hydraulic irrigation systems to support large scale rice agriculture or to construct imposing grand monuments and temples in the king's honor. The examples of these grand projects are Borobudur, Prambanan, and also temples and barays in Angkor.