What is "devaraja"

"Devarāja" is the cult of the "god-king", or deified king in Southeast Asia.

The devarāja cult grew out of both Hinduism and indigenous traditions. It taught that the king was a divine universal ruler, a manifestation of the Hindu god, 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 Indian 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.