The Indian/South Asian Culture and History of Sumeru : Genshin Impact Lore Analysis / Essay 

Hey guys. Just wanted to clarify some inaccuracies I made in this video that were pointed out by my Indian viewers 🙏 At 1:03 I say that Hinduism has up to 33 million gods, when it really has 33 main gods At 8:44 I say that Pani Puri is dipped in mint chutney, while it is really a separate citrus based sauce that is different from mint chutney Thank you my Indian and south Asian viewers for pointing these out 🤲

when i first heard the name "sumeru", i thought they got the name from the ancient civilization of sumer, which is now modern day iraq. but i think it's more probable that the name is inspired by mount meru, or sumeru, in india. mount sumeru is also the center of all universes in buddhist cosmology.

Even the elemental gemstones have their names from Indian origin. Vayuda Turquoise (Anemo): Vayu which means wind Vajrada Amethyst (Electro): Vajra is the weapon weilded by Indra (God of Lightning and Thunder) Prithiva (Geo): Prithvi means Earth Agnidus Agate (Pyro): Agni means Fire Varunada Lazurite (Hydro): Varun is god associated with Ocean and water Shivada Jade (Cryo): Shiva is the God of Destruction (one of the three main deities) and resides in the Himalayas (Mountains covered in snow) Nagadus Emerald (Dendro): Naga means snake/cobra or the divine race of half human half cobra, and dendro also has a pattern which is similar to the neck of a cobra.

While not culture, a minor parallel I saw between India's history and Sumeru's archon quest is British India. During the archon quest, the sages were seemingly the rulers, while in reality is was the fatui/Dottore really pulling the strings. This connects to India as when the British ruled over the country, they had local people or rulers direct the people, but instead of coming from them, it came from the British. Another thing is the separation of religions during British India's time. While there aren't many similarities, I thought the divide between the desert and forest peoples to be interesting.

1:03 Thats a wrong fact and most people get confused. The scripture actually mentioned 33 types of gods but the word "type" is called kouti which sounds like "koti" which means million. Thats where the confusion lies. Great work on the remaining part though. Love your vids.

i think a thing worth noting is collei and bangladesh. her clothes take subtle inspiration from kameez,they aren't the same dress but kameez usually have certain patterns along the rim on the dress,sleeves and down the torso,all of which colleis dress also has. she has a poncho and a scarf,both are styles of wearing a dupatta,a way of wearing cloth yknow for style and stuff! in the webtoon she wears salwar,pants worn all across swanasa countries but also worn prominently in bangladesh! her jewlery too are bengali as her earrings are large and circular like kharanpool earrings and she wears a bangle on each hand. she wears a necklace too,I can't find the certain name,however it is worn!(I can confirm!) she has pink gems lightly scattered through her design and I believe these are reflecting mukta,a type of pink pearl found mostly in bangladesh. another thing is the fact that collei made cullein-anbar herself and textiles is a massive industry in bangladesh,80% of its exports comes from this. cullein-anbar itself could be a jungle cat,something found alot in bangladesh too. as someone who's also from bangladesh,its sad to see a character representing my peoole go under the radar( ｡ﾟДﾟ｡) ***I have a twitter of the same name exploring the culture in genshin characters! if you ever do character sedicates videos,feel free to ask me for help possibly *.ﾟ+ヽ(○･▽･○)ﾉﾞ +.ﾟ* much love(ゝω・´★)

I also think that the 3 Sumeru Gods are a parallel for The Hindu Trimurti. The God of Flowers, Nabu Malikata who gave birth to several races and has a connection to the lotus flower parallels Brahma the creator. Rukkhadevata who contained the corruption parallels Vishnu the preserver. And King Deshret, Al-Ahmar, who brought an end to his civilization in his pursuit of knowledge parallels Shiva the destroyer.

That was amazing! I personally learn things I should know but did not. Thank you so much. You describe Port Ormos and it's connection to India so well. Kusanali is also taken from Kusanali Jataka. It was about a Bodhisattva, a fairy who is also one of the Buddha's incarnation. This is backed by Kusanali having Vajra and Bodhi leaves motifs all over her outfit. She also have a Ghanta (bell) on the back of her neck. Bells hold significance in Dharmic religions. Her being barefoot is also reference to Indian religion and culture, in Buddhism it signifies right mindfulness, meaning you have to pay attention to your present and not let your mind stray. Her arm band is an accessory called a Bajuband, and she also have a bangle. Her ankle wear is another depiction of a vajra symbol. Also, Wanderer's weapon is a literal Vajra Ghanta. Rukkhadevata also created the Varuna Contraption which means 'Sky and Water', Varuna was a Vedic-Hindu god of those elements also mentioned in Rig Veda. Most of her creations including the Akasha and the Aranaras have Sanskrit names and references to Hinduism. Amrita (newest region) is also the 'nectar of Immortality' in Hinduism. While it is the former Hydro Archon, we learn that Rukkha is the one helping her to be at that state.

Actually there are a lot of Indian references in this game which can't be covered in a single video. But i appreciate your hard work , especially for the time you invested in studying about our culture. Hats off

Hindus don't have 33 million gods. We have 33 main gods. It was the translation which messed up the number.

Mihoyo did a good job of putting so many cultures in single nation. I heard natlan is also going to be multi cultural.

Can I say, your pronunciation for the majority of the Sanskrit words was PERFECT.

There are so so many references that one video just can’t do justice. Here is one I have remembered. The Rig Veda is one of the oldest scriptures in hinduism along with upanishads and three other vedas. Aranyaka is considered as a section in these vedas which means ‘forest book’ and is associated with gaining knowledge and understanding actions of life. This connects me with the long aranara world quest : Aranyakas Varuna Gatha and different names given to the quests and their significance. The names of the quest hint what we actually do. Varuna gatha is roughly translated with Varun water god and gatha as songs or tales. And it involves water and how indra usurped varuna to gain his power similar to our quest. Agnihotra is like a hindu ritual which is similar to ritual done in quest. Vimana agaman means arrival of mythical flying objects associated with technology and we do things with ruin golem in this quest. So they are all kinda related with the derived Sanskrit words used in these quests.

There are 3 kumaris in Nepal for the three districts in the kathmandu valley and kusanali did remind me of the kumari when I was playing genshin.

Never thought hoyoverse would take Bengali references as well i.e Goddess Durga , bengal tiger , Bangladesh . Thanks for making it clear. Btw there are some more indian references in the desert region too which got released a week ago. Hope you can make a conclusive video on sumeru describing all the cultures.

such a good video and so less views. Underrated man. Anyway a few corrections: 33 million gods is a mistranslation, tho I'm sure someone must have pointed this out already. no, naan is not a staple here. Roti is tho. Goa is not a christian majority state. Only 25% of the population identifies as christian. Around 66% is hindu. This is per the 2011 census.

at 10:13, that is not naan or roti😂, that is dosa with some coconut chutney and a curry/gravy dish of cottage cheese(paneer), in the video clip

Thank you so much for this amazing educational video. I've enjoyed it a lot. Sumeru it's my favorite nation even now. I had lots of fun exploring it.

This channel deserves much more subscribers and views than its currently has

amazing and informative as always! your point about the multiculturalism of sumeru being accurate to real life proves those who have complained wrong :)

Such a well done and interesting video! You clearly did great research for this, some info even i as an indian, didn't know. This was a very fun watch. I had sparkly stars in my eyes the entire time 😂❤

Thanks for all of the effort you give to make this video! I really appreciate it.

Thanks for explaining this in detail, your awesome.

Yayyy! have been looking forward to this

I always look forward to your videos, and this one did not disappoint. Please keep up the good work!

Sumeru feels like home to me as an Indian ( the rainforest area only ). The music, the environment and everything is so homelike

Loved this series! I'd love to see more of these for the other countries!

well done on this one! youve done such a great job analyasing sumeru and distinguishing the culutres, sumeru is by far the most confusing region when it comes to influnces from the real world, even in the new area all the islamic and sanskrit names jumbled up and co-exist togather which makes it confusing excited for you video regarding fontaine as when it comes to european culutres, i love french the most after italian

i rlly love how they brought toghter egypet persia india and arab countries toghter for samrue

I think they combine Southeast Asia Forest, India as Sumeru, and Arabic Culture as the desert.

Hindus Have 33 Supreme gods and not 33 million gods, It was a mis-translation from Sanskrit. Along with that a lot of the gods have numerous Avatars so u may hear more than 33 names but a lot of then are an avatar of one of the Supreme gods

You’ve outdone yourself! This video is incredibly detailed and made me appreciate the game even more. ❤️ Also, I hope that people who are a part of these real-world cultures to feel proud to see representation like this in such a big scale. I can only hope for my own but I don’t think it’s happening because of the roadmap the game has already revealed. 😫

But nahida name come from Anahita Anahita /ɑːnəˈhiːtə/ is the Old Persian form of the name of an Iranian goddess and appears in complete and earlier form as Aredvi Sura Anahita (Arədvī Sūrā Anāhitā), the Avestan name of an Indo-Iranian cosmological figure venerated as the divinity of "the Waters" (Aban) and hence associated with fertility, healing and wisdom. There is also a temple named Anahita in Iran. Aredvi Sura Anahita is Ardwisur Anahid (اردویسور آناهید) or Nahid (ناهید) in Middle and Modern Persian, and Anahit in Armenian.[1] An iconic shrine cult of Aredvi Sura Anahita was, together with other shrine cults, "introduced apparently in the 4th century BCE and lasted until it was suppressed in the wake of an iconoclastic movement under the Sassanids."[2] The symbol of goddess Anahita is the Lotus flower. Lotus Festival (Persian: Jashn-e Nilupar) is an Iranian festival that is held on the end of the first week of July. Holding this festival at this time was probably based on the blooming of lotus flowers at the beginning of summer.

Yey more 😊analysts!

7:20 That image you showed is a icon of the Ladder of Divine Ascent by St. John Climacus, not related to the Chinvat Bridge at all

Sumeru is name of a mountain in India which means mountain of wisdom or knowledge

There are actually 33 supreme gods in Hinduism. The word "coti" in Sanskrit here means supreme not million tho. And Hindus do consume pork. Speaking of prohibition, the consumption of meat itself is not recommended in our Gita , as it makes us "tamasik" or notorious

Thanks for the vidéo, from algeria 🇩🇿

In Bangladesh we call Panipuri 'Fuchka '.

i learned so much as an indian myself

Damn you make me hungry with all that good food!

next: Fontaine with a touch of French culture, Venice Italy, Victorian Era technology

Combine Liyue and Sumeru and we get ASEAN 💀 Also, I wish they'll give us more non-desert Sumerian with darker skin. I feel like they took the geology a bit too literally.

spoilers// i feel like i should mention that being "reincarnated" as a childlike form is a common theme with genshin's gods, not just nahida. In an old event, it was revealed that Guoba used to be the stove god.

I think hoyo made a mistake in the name Samosait's also an arabic food and it's called sambosa not samosa and it has the triangular form

Just wanted to point out that pani puris are not eaten with mint chutney as mentioned in the video, but with a sort of cold soup made from mint and coriander (the pani part of pani puri; puris are the dough shells that are stuffed with the filling). The difference between them is that chutneys are thicker and grittier, with a sort of paste-like texture, while pani is far more liquid, almost like juice. Most of the time, though not always, they are also served with a reddish brown tamarind chutney. The pani is spicy and the tamarind chutney is sweet. Everyone should try it at least once in their lives. Love from India

nice video man good job just one thing about nahida i researched and she have more persian design which i really found interesting{cuz i though she is indian but this changed my mind) first is her name which is nahida and its a persian name which i am sure you know but idk why you didn't mention in video, nahida is based on anahita a persian ancient god which was god of health and wisdom which i will tell why i thing its related, second her constellation name means Wisdom of ahura mazda which again was a god in ancient persia which her constellation icon seems like how ahura mazda is in ancient persia third her burst which i am not 100% sure but i saw really now can't unsee it and that is looks soo simller to persian glass and roof tops(from inside) in persia which my friend told me it is true and forth in both her story quests we saw that she had to sacrifice some one(or something) to cure a thing and the anahita seems like to work same cuz in the books it said that soldier had to make a sacrifase to gain her wisdom and welth which is good and last her birthday is in sabzeruz festival which is based on nowruz in persia which in persian culture nowruz means day the grass born(some also say it is when ahura mazda created the world) which is kinda cool there are some mre but i don't really want to say much about cus i am not 100% sure like the bracelet on her arm cuz in the internet there are 2 types one thick and just some flowers second is not as thick but have griffin head and the skin color but it can't be a good thing to say she is persian cuz cyno/dehya is kinda brown but not much(i know there are bron/black skins in iran too but its not that much) i didn't said this before cuz i was waiting for your video so i will see if your opinion and facts can make me agree but it couldn't make me agree btw this is just my opinion so don't take it personally ;)

dendro is wisdom and love and the heart chakra green

Lol I am from Goa I never expected goa to be in genshin

33 millions gods ✖️ 33 types of gods ✔️

Bro there are only 33 main god not 33 million god. Its just mistranslation

I like Indian music in sumeru it's best. I don't think there will be good music in other nations.

So where's my playable Indian playable character .......oh i forgot they don't give a F about dark skinned people

I see many people fighting over sumeru is completely based off of Egyptian, Babylonian,persian regions of past i don't know y they can't accept the fact that more things then they could ever imagine are of indian origin, and this video explains all those aspects very thoroughly and accurately.

Bro it is not 33 million god it's only 33 gods don't misunderstand geta your fact check first

Ii is 33 types not million 😢

bro you forgot Jainism

Sumeru literally means 'excellent mountain’ in Sanskrit. Sumeru can also be someone's name in India.

I am watching this a bit late lol but I really enjoyed it! I love seeing how the world of teyvat has so many details from the real world. And Sumeru is one of my favourite regions aesthetically (after Liyue) so it’s really cool that I now know a lot more about where it’s inspiration came from 🫶