Manimekhala

Manimekhala is a goddess of Hindu-Buddhist mythology revered as guardian of the seas, watching over the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea within the wider mythology of Southeast Asia. She was placed in this role by Catummaharajika, the guardian of the four directions, to protect virtuous beings from shipwreck, and she appears in Buddhist literature including the Mahajanaka Jataka, where she rescues Prince Mahajanaka after his ship is wrecked. Her cult extends across Southeast Asian Buddhist traditions and into Tamil and Sinhalese regions, wherever her maritime protection is invoked.