Bathoubwrai

Bathoubwrai, ‘Bathou the Elder’, is unseen, all-knowing and all-powerful, and is worshipped by the Boro of Assam. He is said to have created the five principles of air, fire, earth, water and ether on which the faith is built.

The sijou shrub, a kind of spurge, is his living embodiment. Boro families plant it at the northeast corner of the courtyard, and communities fence it with eighteen pairs of bamboo strips, each pair a pair of minor gods. Offerings are animals, fowls and rice beer.