Religion in Bali by C. Hooykaas

playing snap shut are his lips—in this way the limbs etc. are equated to the whole inventory of
hellish terrors.
Infinitely charming is one of the forms of pegat, 'cutting (the liens)', 'taking leave'. A young child
had died; it lay on its bier. Her playmates were at the foot end, and connected with it by strings
which they held in their hands. Midway each string was a coin which in Bali has a hole in the
middle. Such a string was burned through at the bier side of the coin so that each child received
its coin as a souvenir. Play? Fancy? Extremely touching.
The examples could be multiplied but the matter is sufficiently clear. Inseparable union of
seriousness and playful fantasy.
But what to think when déwa and bhatara are the word for deity and God, but also used as a
feudal title and the word used to address the king?
Priests and laymen agree that teeth should be filed at maturity 'to prevent that one should be
reborn provided with fangs and tusks'. One never saw anybody, his mouth adorned in this way,
but knows that not everybody had his teeth filled. The costs for the offerings considered to be
needed at tooth filing are often prohibitive. Here a possible former belief seems to have ceded its
place to social play, the tooth filing display of wealth.
The dead should be cremated, 'to save their souls'. The ritual is expensive and by far most
Balinese are never cremated. Are the Balinese so cruel or is cremation more a matter of social
display than of belief? Some say: potlatch.
I witnessed a commoner's marriage. First there was a long palaver between all men concerned at
such an occasion; each had his say, some of them at considerable length.
"The results were found to be satisfactory; without delay bride and groom went through several
picturesque practical rituals. At the right moment the bride took leave from her parental home
and was genuinely moved to tears. Next the offerings were brought for the first signs of