Page:History of the Indian Archipelago Vol 2.djvu/282

 238 RELIGION OP BALI. Continental India, a variety of new casts. A legal marriage, however, can only be contracted between persons of the same cast, so that the four great classes are thus preserved distinct. There exists a class of outcasts, called by the Indian name Chandala ; they are held impure, and being excluded from associating with their fellow sub- jects, they occupy the outskirts of the villages. Potters, dyers, dealers in leather, distillers, and dealers in ardent spirits, are of this order. The Brahmins of Bali may be considered ge- nuine Hindus, but in general the people are left to their local superstitions, consisting of the wor- ship of personifications of the elements, and of the most striking natural objects which surround them. The deity thus created, ranks in proportion to his supposed power, and the importance of the duties assigned to him. Every nation in Bali has its peculiar tutelary god, and the villages, mountains, forests, and rivers, have their respective guardians. To these deities rude temples are constructed, in which the lower orders, usually Wisiyas and Sudras, and never Brahmins, officiate as priests. These persons so officiating are called Mamangkii or guardians. The Brahman s declared to me that they worshipped no idol whatever, not even those of the Hindu mythology. In the part of Bali which I visited, although temples were numerous, there certainly were none dedicated to pure Hiu-