Nang Ta-khian ( th, นางตะเคียน, "Lady of Ta-khian") is a female spirit of the

folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, rangin ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. It manifests itself as a woman that haunts ''

Hopea odorata ''Hopea odorata'', or ta-khian ( th, ตะเคียน), is a species of plant in the family Dipterocarpaceae. It is found in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. It is a large tree reaching up to 45 m ...

'' trees. These are very large trees known as ''Ta-khian'' (ตะเคียน) in Thai, hence her name.

Legends

The Nang Ta-khian belong to a type of spirits or

fairies A fairy (also fay, fae, fey, fair folk, or faerie) is a type of mythical being or legendary creature found in the folklore of multiple European cultures (including Celtic, Slavic, Germanic, English, and French folklore), a form of spirit, ...

related to trees and known generically in

Thai folklore Thai folklore is a diverse set of mythology and traditional beliefs held by the Thai people. Most Thai folklore has a regional background for it originated in rural Thailand. With the passing of time, and through the influence of the media, large ...

as ''Nang Mai'' (นางไม้, "Lady of the Tree").Spirits
/ref> Legends in the Thai

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication wherein knowledge, art, ideas and Culture, cultural material is received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Traditio ...

say the spirit inhabits a Ta-khian tree and sometimes appears as a beautiful young woman wearing traditional Thai attire, usually in reddish or brownish colours, contrasting with ''

Nang Tani Nang Tani ( th, นางตานี; "Lady of Tani") is a female spirit of the Thai folklore. According to folk tradition, this ghost appears as a young woman that haunts wild banana trees ('' Musa balbisiana''), known as in Thai language as ...

'' who is mostly represented in a green dress. Nang Ta-khian is generally a

sylvan Sylvan or Sylvans (from the Latin ''silva'': "forest, woods") may refer to: Places United States * Sylvan, Illinois, a former settlement * Sylvan, Wisconsin, a town ** Sylvan (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated area in the town * Sylvan ...

spirit, for the Ta-khian is a tall, massive tree that can live for centuries, naturally found in the forest and not near inhabited areas. As it has a large trunk and a wide-spreading root system, it is normally not planted close to homesteads. Like all ''Nang Mai'', Nang Ta-khian haunts the immediate environment of her tree and she may also haunt a house having beams, stilts or pillars made from Ta-khian wood. She may hurt wicked or immoral people that come close to her abode, but righteous persons have nothing to fear from her. The tree is almost never felled for lumber, since the spirit will be furious and follow the wood. About the only place Ta-khian is used as lumber is in a

Buddhist monastery Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

, where the merit of the monks is considered sufficient to render the spirit harmless. Traditionally trees where Ta-khian resides have lengths of colored

satin A satin weave is a type of fabric weave that produces a characteristically glossy, smooth or lustrous material, typically with a glossy top surface and a dull back. It is one of three fundamental types of textile weaves alongside plain weave ...

cloth wrapped around their trunk. In order to protect venerable old trees from

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. Logging is the beginning of a supply cha ...

Buddhist monks A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics (" nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist ...

use to wrap lengths of satin around them and in case of having to cut the tree a special ceremony had to be performed to ask for permission. However, in present times some of these very ancient trees are felled anyway for their wood, even though it is said to be dangerous for a person to cut such a tree without the previous consent of the spirit inhabiting it.

Temples and shrines

In some parts of Thailand, Nang Ta-khian has become a popular

tree deity A tree deity or tree spirit is a nature deity related to a tree. Such deities are present in many cultures. They are usually represented as a young woman, often connected to ancient fertility and tree worship lore.Heinrich Zimmer, ''Myths and Sy ...

. Miracles are attributed to her power and not only living trees, but also logs, beams or

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

s of wooden boats where the spirit is deemed to reside are an object of pilgrimage and have lengths of colored silk tied as an offering. In present times, Nang Ta-Khian is usually propitiated in order to be lucky in the

lottery A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of ...

. Most Nang Ta-khian shrines are quite humble, but larger temples and shrines dedicated to Nang Ta-Khian are found in locations such as Sao Hai District, Saraburi Province and Amphawa District, Samut Songkhram Province, the shrine being part of a larger temple compound in some places.

Offerings and shrines

Modern adaptations

This folk spirit is featured in the 2003

Thai film The cinema of Thailand dates back to the History of film, early days of filmmaking, when Chulalongkorn, King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by François-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, wher ...

Ta-khian ("The Haunted Tree"), with

Sorapong Chatree Sorapong Chatree ( th, สรพงษ์ ชาตรี; born Pittaya Tiamswate; 8 December 1950 – 10 March 2022) was a Thai film actor. He had frequently starred in the films of Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol, as well as in Cherd Songsri's cl ...

and 2010 movie Nang Ta-khian ("Takien: The Haunted Tree").Nang Ta-khian ("Takien: The Haunted Tree")
/ref> Nang Ta-khian has a role as well in the

Nak In data networking, telecommunications, and computer buses, an acknowledgment (ACK) is a signal that is passed between communicating processes, computers, or devices to signify acknowledgment, or receipt of message, as part of a communications ...

animated movie.

References

External links