Batara Guru in the mythologies of the island of Sumatra, states David Leeming, is a primal being, creator of earth and first ancestor of human beings. He is conceptualized quite similar to the creator deity found in Central Asia and Native North America. According to Martin Ramstedt, Batara Guru in other parts of Indonesia is sometimes identified with Shiva, and elsewhere as transcending Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva and Buddha.