Urutengangana is the
god
In monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Oxford Companion to Philosophy'', Oxford University Press, 1995. God is typically ...
of light in
Māori mythology. He is the firstborn of the children of the primordial parents,
Ranginui
In Māori mythology the primal couple Rangi and Papa (or Ranginui and Papatūānuku) appear in a creation myth explaining the origin of the world (though there are many different versions). In some South Island dialects, Rangi is called Raki or Ra ...
the
Sky father and
Papatūānuku the
Earth mother.
Also known as The Gleaming One, a personification of light, Urutengangana had two wives, Moeahuru and Hineturama, the first of whom gave birth to "the red sun" and "the waxing moon," while the later produced the stars. In the struggle between the forces of Light and Darkness, Urutengangana at first sided with
Whiro
Whiro-te-tipua (Whiro, or Hiro in the Tuamotus) is the lord of darkness and embodiment of all evil in Māori mythology. He inhabits the underworld and is responsible for the ills of all people, a contrast to his brother and enemy Tāne.
Acco ...
, but, in later times, sided with
Tāne
In Māori mythology, Tāne (also called Tāne-mahuta, Tāne-nui-a-Rangi, and several other names) is the god of forests and of birds, and the son of Ranginui and Papatūānuku, the sky father and the earth mother, who used to lie in a tight em ...
.
See also
Ao (mythology)
Ao (''daylight'') is one of the primal deities who are the unborn forces of nature in Māori mythology. Ao is the personification of light, clouds, and the ordinary world, as opposed to darkness () and the underworld.
He is spoken of under man ...
References
Light gods
Māori gods
Māori mythology
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