Yakkha people of Sri Lanka

Yaksha (Sanskrit यक्ष yakṣa, Odia-ଯକ୍ଷ, Pali yakkha) are a broad class of nature-spirits, usually benevolent, but sometimes mischievous and sexually aggressive or capricious caretakers of the natural treasures hidden in the earth and tree roots. They appear in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts, as well as ancient and medieval era temples of South Asia and Southeast Asia as guardian deities. The feminine form of the word is yakṣī or Yakshini (yakṣiṇī).

In Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist texts, the yakṣa has a dual personality. On the one hand, a yakṣa may be an inoffensive nature-fairy, associated with woods and mountains; but there is also a darker version of the yakṣa, which is a kind of ghost (bhuta) that haunts the wilderness and waylays and devours travelers, similar to the rakṣasas.

In the Hindu Mythology Kubera (Sanskrit: कुबेर, Pali/later Sanskrit: Kuvera), also spelt Kuber, the Lord of Wealth and prosperity is considered as the god-king of the semi-divine Yakshas. He is regarded as the regent of the North (Dik-pala), and a protector of the world (Lokapala). His many epithets extol him as the overlord of numerous semi-divine species and the owner of the treasures of the world. Kubera is often depicted with a plump body, adorned with jewels, and carrying a money-pot and a club. His plump body denotes that Kubera the lord of Yakshas, is indeed a Yaksha. His (vehicle) is the viverrine (mongoose).He is often seen with another religious figure, Lakshmi (Sanskrit: लक्ष्मी, lakṣmī, ˈləkʂmiː) the Hindu goddess of wealth, fortune and prosperity. Kubera was originally described as the chief of evil spirits in Vedic-era texts, Kubera acquired the status of a Deva (god) only in the Puranas and the Hindu epics.

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