Donyi-Polo

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Donyi-Polo (or Donyi Polo, Donyi-Poloism), literally "Sun-Moon", is an animist religion followed by many of the tribal groups, including Apatani, Adi, Miri and Nishi of Arunachal Pradesh, India. Some anthropologists argued that Donyi-Polo probably derived from the pre-Buddhist Bön religion. [1] Donyi Polo focuses the worship of The sun and Moon, who are considered the eternal watch deities of the supreme almighties, Bo and Bomong.

Believers believed that all people of Arunachal Pradesh share a common ancestry from Abo-Teni. The religion has no written scriptures, but has traditionally been passed orally from each generation to the next. Believers pray to a number of spirits and souls for blessing, but principally worship the sun and the moon as the visible forms of the gods. Donyi-Polo includes religious rituals which coincide with lunar phases and agricultural cycles.

A follower of Donyi-Polo believes in the oneness of all living creatures, from the tiniest organisms to the mightiest animals, and that every living creature has a role to play in his or her life. They believe that spirit resides within man, and within his nearest neighbours, the trees, flowers, plants, the land that nourishes them, the birds, the mountain ranges... all of which have a connection with humans.

The deities in Donyi-Polo, Kine Nane, Doying Bote, Pedong Nane and Gumin Soyin, play the role of protectors who mean to show followers the path which is destined for them, yet decided by themselves.

Although generally losing influence with the younger generations, as growing numbers convert to Christianity, Donyi-Poloism has undergone something of a revival subsequent to the efforts of Talom Rukbo, the father of the modern Donyipolo Movement in Arunachal Pradesh.

Efforts are now underway to give an organized form to the traditional beliefs and values of the Arunachal Pradesh region, and to protect the locals against coerced conversion to foreign religions.