Page:The Pamphleteer (Volume 8).djvu/96

92 state of B'liling exceeds four hundred, of whom about one hundred are termed Pandita.

Without entering into the particular tenets of the prevailing Hinduism of Bali, which can only be treated of with propriety and correctness after a more thorough acquaintance with the practical duties, and some knowledge of what is contained in their sacred records it may be affirmed without hazard, that Hinduism, as it exists at the present day in Bali, is rather to be considered as the nationalized Hinduism of Bali, in which a large portion of the native institutions and customs are admitted, than Hinduism as it is understood to prevail on the continent of India. The Brahmins, however, are held in high veneration; and, on being questioned as to their doctrines and to what sect they belong, they answer invariably, they are Bramana Siwa. They have the same appearance as Bramins wherever they are met with, and the Indian features at once distinguish them as descended from a foreign race. The town and small temples which we occasionally observed, have the appearance of a Maharatta village, and the eye is struck with every thing strictly Hindu, forming a most unexpected contrast with the present style of building and appearance of the country on passing through Java and the other Eastern Islands.

On inquiring into the relative rank and importance of their deities, they invariably described Bitara Guru as the first in rank; then Bitara Brama, the spirit of fire; Bitara Wisnu, the spirit of the waters; and lastly, Bitara Siwa, the spirit of the winds.

Beside these, they describe numerous subordinate deities, to whom they pay adoration; as Dewa Gid'e Segara, the divinity of the great sea; Dewa Gid'e Dalam, the divinity who presides over death; Gid'e Bali Agung, the great and popular deity of Bali; Dewa Gid'e Gunung Agung, the great deity of the mountain; which last is the deity of most general worship.

Bitara Guru, though considered as the highest object of worship, is declared to be subordinate to, and only the mediator with the divinity, whom they designate by the expressive and appropriate term of Sang Yang Tung'gal,

The bodies of deceased persons are invariably burnt, and the wives and concubines of the higher classes perform the sacrifice of Satia. A few days previous to my landing on Bali, nineteen young women, the wives and concubines of the younger rajah, who was lately put to death, sacrificed themselves in this manner.

The written language of Bali differs but little from that of Java; but the character has a more ancient form. The Kawi is the sacred language, and understood or pretended to be understood by the Bramins. The common language is a mixture of the original language of the country and that of Java, in which the latter predominates.