Yama or Yamarāja is the god of death, belonging to an early stratum of Vedic mythology. In Sanskrit, his name can be interpreted to mean "twin". In the Zend-Avesta he is called "Yima". According to the Vishnu Purana, his parents are the sun-god Surya and Sanjna, sometimes called "Usha", the daughter of Visvakarman. Yama is the brother of the current Manu Vaivasvatha and of his older sister Yami, which H. H. Wilson indicates to mean the Yamuna river. According to Harivamsa Purana her name is Daya. There is a one-of-a-kind temple in Srivanchiyam, Tamil Nadu, India, dedicated to Yama.
In the Vedas, Yama is said to have been the first mortal who died. By virtue of precedence, he became the ruler of the departed, called "Lord of the Pitrs".
Mentioned by the Buddha in the Pali canon, Yama subsequently entered Buddhist, Chinese, Tibetan, Korean, Vietnamese, and Japanese mythology as a wrathful god under various transliterations. He is otherwise also called as "Dharmaraja".