Hinduism and Buddhism, An Historical Sketch Volume III Part 18

Many reliefs, particularly those of Panataran, show the influence of a style which is not Indian and may be termed, though not very correctly, Polynesian. The great merit of Javanese sculpture lies in the refinement and beauty of the faces. Among figures executed in India it would be hard to find anything equal in purity and delicacy to the Avalokita of Mendut, the Manjusri now in the Berlin Museum or the Prajpramit now at Leyden.

6

From the eleventh century until the end of the Hindu period Java can show a considerable body of literature, which is in part theological.

It is unfortunate that no books dating from an earlier epoch should be extant. The sculptures of Prambanam and Boroboedoer clearly presuppose an acquaintance with the Ramayana, the Lalita Vistara and other Buddhist works but, as in Camboja, this literature was probably known only in the original Sanskrit and only to the learned. But it is not unlikely that the Javanese adaptations of the Indian epics which have come down to us were preceded by earlier attempts which have disappeared.

The old literary language of Java is commonly known as Bs Kawi or Kawi, that is the language of poetry[420]. It is however simply the predecessor of modern Javanese and many authorities prefer to describe the language of the island as Old Javanese before the Madj.a.pahit period, Middle-Javanese during that period and New Javanese after the fall of Madj.a.pahit. The greater part of this literature consists of free versions of Sanskrit works or of a substratum in Sanskrit accompanied by a Javanese explanation. Only a few Javanese works are original, that is to say not obviously inspired by an Indian prototype, but on the other hand nearly all of them handle their materials with freedom and adapt rather than translate what they borrow.

One of the earliest works preserved appears to be the Tantoe Panggelaran, a treatise on cosmology in which Indian and native ideas are combined. It is supposed to have been written about 1000 A.D. Before the foundation of Madj.a.pahit Javanese literature flourished especially in the reigns of Erlangga and Djajabaja, that is in the eleventh and twelfth centuries respectively. About the time of Erlangga were produced the old prose version of the Mahabharata, in which certain episodes of that poem are rendered with great freedom and the poem called Arjuna-vivha, or the marriage of Arjuna.

The Bhratayuddha[421], which states that it was composed by Mpoe Sedah in 1157 by order of Djajabaja, prince of Kediri, is, even more than the prose version mentioned above, a free rendering of parts of the Mahabharata. It is perhaps based on an older translation preserved in Bali[422]. The Kawi Ramayana was in the opinion of Kern composed about 1200 A.D. It follows in essentials the story of the Ramayana, but it was apparently composed by a poet unacquainted with Sanskrit who drew his knowledge from some native source now unknown[423]. He appears to have been a Sivaite. To the eleventh century are also referred the Smaradahana and the treatise on prosody called Vrittasacaya. All this literature is based upon cla.s.sical Sanskrit models and is not distinctly Buddhist although the prose version of the Mahabharata states that it was written for Brahmans, Sivaites and Buddhists[424]. Many other translations or adaptations of Sanskrit work are mentioned, such as the Ntisstra, the Srasamuccaya, the Tantri (in several editions), a prose translation of the Brahmndapurn?a, together with grammars and dictionaries. The absence of dates makes it difficult to use these works for the history of Javanese thought. But it seems clear that during the Madj.a.pahit epoch, or perhaps even before it, a strong current of Buddhism permeated Javanese literature, somewhat in contrast with the tone of the works. .h.i.therto cited. Brandes states that the Sutasoma, Vighnotsava, Kujarakarna, Sang Hyang Kamahynikan, and Buddhapamutus are purely Buddhist works and that the Tjantakaparva, Arjunavijaya, Ngarakretagama, Wariga and Bubukshah show striking traces of Buddhism[425]. Some of these works are inaccessible to me but two of them deserve examination, the Sang Hyang Kamahynikan[426] and the story of Kujarakarn?a[427]. The first is tentatively a.s.signed to the Madj.a.pahit epoch or earlier, the second with the same caution to the eleventh century. I do not presume to criticize these dates which depend partly on linguistic considerations. The Kamahynikan is a treatise (or perhaps extracts from treatises) on Mahayanism as understood in Java and presumably on the normal form of Mahayanism.

The other work is an edifying legend including an exposition of the faith by no one less than the Buddha Vairocana. In essentials it agrees with the Kamahynikan but in details it shows either sectarian influence or the idiosyncrasies of the author.

The Kamahynikan consists of Sanskrit verses explained by a commentary in old Javanese and is partly in the form of questions and answers. The only authority whom it cites is Dignga. It professes to teach the Mahyna and Mantryana, which is apparently a misspelling for Mantrayna. The emphasis laid on Bajra (that is vajra or dorje), ghant, mudr, man?d?ala, mystic syllables, and Devs marks it as an offshoot of Tantrism and it offers many parallels to Nepalese literature. On the other hand it is curious that it uses the form Nibn?a not Nirvn?a[428]. Its object is to teach a neophyte, who has to receive initiation, how to become a Buddha[429]. In the second part the pupil is addressed as Jinaputra, that is son of the Buddha or one of the household of faith. He is to be moderate but not ascetic in food and clothing: he is not to cleave to the Purn?as and Tantras but to practise the Pramits. These are defined first as six[430] and then four others are added[431]. Under Prajpramit is given a somewhat obscure account of the doctrine of Snyat. Then follows the exposition of Paramaguhya (the highest secret) and Mahguhya (the great secret). The latter is defined as being Yoga, the bhvans, the four n.o.ble truths and the ten pramits. The former explains the embodiment of Bhat?ra Visesha, that is to say the way in which Buddhas, G.o.ds and the world of phenomena are evolved from a primordial principle, called Advaya and apparently equivalent to the Nepalese Adibuddha[432]. Advaya is the father of Buddha and Advayajna, also called Bharl Prajpramit, is his mother, but the Buddha principle at this stage is also called Divarpa. In the next stage this Divarpa takes form as Skyamuni, who is regarded as a superhuman form of Buddhahood rather than as a human teacher, for he produces from his right and left side respectively Lokesvara and Bajrapni. These beings produce, the first Akshobhya and Ratnasambhava, the second Amitbha and Amoghasiddhi, but Vairocana springs directly from the face of Skyamuni. The five superhuman Buddhas are thus accounted for. From Vairocana spring Isvara (Siva), Brahm, and Vishn?u: from them the elements, the human body and the whole world. A considerable part of the treatise is occupied with connecting these various emanations of the Advaya with mystic syllables and in showing how the five Buddhas correspond to the different skandas, elements, senses, etc. Finally we are told that there are five Devs, or female counterparts corresponding in the same order to the Buddhas named above and called Locan, Mmak, Pn?d?aravsin, Tr and Dhtvsvar. But it is declared that the first and last of these are the same and therefore there are really only four Devs.

The legend of Kujarakarn?a relates how a devout Yaksha of that name went to Bodhicitta[433] and asked of Vairocana instruction in the holy law and more especially as to the mysteries of rebirth. Vairocana did not refuse but bade his would-be pupil first visit the realms of Yama, G.o.d of the dead. Kujarakarn?a did so, saw the punishments of the underworld, including the torments prepared for a friend of his, whom he was able to warn on his return. Yama gave him some explanations respecting the alternation of life and death and he was subsequently privileged to receive a brief but more general exposition of doctrine from Vairocana himself.

This doctrine is essentially a variety of Indian pantheism but peculiar in its terminology inasmuch as Vairocana, like Kr?ishn?a in the Bhagavad-gt, proclaims himself to be the All-G.o.d and not merely the chief of the five Buddhas. He quotes with approval the saying "you are I: I am you" and affirms the ident.i.ty of Buddhism and Sivaism. Among the monks[434] there are no _muktas_ (_i.e._ none who have attained liberation) because they all consider as two what is really one. "The Buddhists say, we are Bauddhas, for the Lord Buddha is our highest deity: we are not the same as the Sivaites, for the Lord Siva is for them the highest deity." The Sivaites are represented as saying that the five Kusikas are a development or incarnations of the five Buddhas. "Well, my son" is the conclusion, "These are all one: we are Siva, we are Buddha."

In this curious exposition the author seems to imply that his doctrine is different from that of ordinary Buddhists, and to reprimand them more decidedly than Sivaites. He several times uses the phrase _Namo Bhat?ra, namah? Sivya_ (Hail, Lord: hail to Siva) yet he can hardly be said to favour the Sivaites on the whole, for his All-G.o.d is Vairocana who once (but only once) receives the t.i.tle of Buddha. The doctrine attributed to the Sivaites that the five Kusikas are identical with the superhuman Buddhas remains obscure[435]. These five personages are said to be often mentioned in old Javanese literature but to be variously enumerated[436]. They are identified with the five Indras, but these again are said to be the five senses (indriyas). Hence we can find a parallel to this doctrine in the teaching of the Kamahynikan that the five Buddhas correspond to the five senses.

Two other special theses are enounced in the story of Kujarakarn?a.

The first is Vairocana's a.n.a.lysis of a human being, which makes it consist of five Atmans or souls, called respectively Atman, Cetantman, Partman, Nirtman and Antartman, which somehow correspond to the five elements, five senses and five Skandhas. The singular list suggests that the author was imperfectly acquainted with the meaning of the Sanskrit words employed and the whole terminology is strange in a Buddhist writer. Still in the later Upanishads[437]

the epithet panctmaka is applied to the human body, especially in the Garbha Upanishad which, like the pa.s.sage here under consideration, gives a psychophysiological explanation of the development of an embryo into a human being.

The second thesis is put in the mouth of Yama. He states that when a being has finished his term in purgatory he returns to life in this world first as a worm or insect, then successively as a higher animal and a human being, first diseased or maimed and finally perfect. No parallel has yet been quoted to this account of metempsychosis.

Thus the Kujarakarn?a contains peculiar views which are probably sectarian or individual. On the other hand their apparent singularity may be due to our small knowledge of old Javanese literature. Though other writings are not known to extol Vairocana as being Siva and Buddha in one, yet they have no scruple in identifying Buddhist and Brahmanic deities or connecting them by some system of emanations, as we have already seen in the Kamahynikan. Such an ident.i.ty is still more definitely proclaimed in the old Javanese version of the Sutasoma Jtaka[438]. It is called Purushda-Snta and was composed by Tantular who lived at Madj.a.pahit in the reign of Rjasanagara (1350-1389 A.D.). In the Indian original Sutasoma is one of the previous births of Gotama. But the Javanese writer describes him as an Avatra of the Buddha who is Brahm, Vishn?u and Isvara, and he states that "The Lord Buddha is not different from Siva the king of the G.o.ds.... They are distinct and they are one. In the Law is no dualism." The superhuman Buddhas are identified with various Hindu G.o.ds and also with the five senses. Thus Amitbha is Mahdeva and Amoghasiddhi is Vishn?u. This is only a slight variation of the teaching in the Kamahynikan. There Brahmanic deities emanate from Skyamuni through various Bodhisattvas and Buddhas: here the Buddha spirit is regarded as equivalent to the Hindu Trimrti and the various aspects of this spirit can be described in either Brahmanic or Buddhistic terminology though in reality all Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and G.o.ds are one. But like the other authors quoted, Tantular appears to lean to the Buddhist side of these equations, especially for didactic purposes. For instance he says that meditation should be guided "by Lokesvara's word and Skyamuni's spirit."

7

Thus it will be seen that if we take Javanese epigraphy, monuments and literature together with Chinese notices, they to some extent confirm one another and enable us to form an outline picture, though with many gaps, of the history of thought and religion in the island. Fa-Hsien tells us that in 418 A.D. Brahmanism flourished (as is testified by the inscriptions of Prn?avarman) but that the Buddhists were not worth mentioning. Immediately afterwards, probably in 423, Gun?avarman is said to have converted Sh-po, if that be Java, to Buddhism, and as he came from Kashmir he was probably a Sarvstivdin.

Other monks are mentioned as having visited the southern seas[439].

About 690 I-Ching says that Buddhism of the Mlasarvstivdin school was flourishing in Sumatra, which he visited, and in the other islands of the Archipelago. The remarkable series of Buddhist monuments in mid Java extending from about 779 to 900 A.D. confirms his statement.

But two questions arise. Firstly, is there any explanation of this sudden efflorescence of Buddhism in the Archipelago, and next, what was its doctrinal character? If, as Trantha says, the disciples of Vasubandhu evangelized the countries of the East, their influence might well have been productive about the time of I-Ching's visit. But in any case during the sixth and seventh centuries religious travellers must have been continually journeying between India and China, in both directions, and some of them must have landed in the Archipelago. At the beginning of the sixth century Buddhism was not yet decadent in India and was all the fashion in China. It is not therefore surprising if it was planted in the islands lying on the route. It may be, as indicated above, that some specially powerful body of Hindus coming from the region of Gujarat and professing Buddhism founded in Java a new state.

As to the character of this early Javanese Buddhism we have the testimony of I-Ching that it was of the Mlasarvstivdin school and Hinayanist. He wrote of what he had seen in Sumatra but of what he knew only by hearsay in Java and his statement offers some difficulties. Probably Hinayanism was introduced by Gun?avarman but was superseded by other teachings which were imported from time to time after they had won for themselves a position in India. For the temple of Kalasan (A.D. 779) is dedicated to Tr and the inscription found there speaks of the Mahayana with veneration. The later Buddhism of Java has literary records which, so far as I know, are unreservedly Mahayanist but probably the sculptures of Boroboedoer are the most definite expression which we shall ever have of its earlier phases.

Since they contain images of the five superhuman Buddhas and of numerous Bodhisattvas, they can hardly be called anything but Mahayanist. But on the other hand the personality of Skyamuni is emphasized; his life and previous births are pictured in a long series of sculptures and Maitreya is duly honoured. Similar collections of pictures and images may be seen in Burma which differ doctrinally from those in Java chiefly by subst.i.tuting the four human Buddhas[440] and Maitreya for the superhuman Buddhas. But Mahayanist teaching declares that these human Buddhas are reflexes of counterparts of the superhuman Buddhas so that the difference is not great.

Mahayanist Buddhism in Camboja and at a later period in Java itself was inextricably combined with Hinduism, Buddha being either directly identified with Siva or regarded as the primordial spirit from which Siva and all G.o.ds spring. But the sculptures of Boroboedoer do not indicate that the artists knew of any such amalgamation nor have inscriptions been found there, as in Camboja, which explain this compound theology. It would seem that Buddhism and Brahmanism co-existed in the same districts but had not yet begun to fuse doctrinally. The same condition seems to have prevailed in western India during the seventh and eighth centuries, for the Buddhist caves of Ellora, though situated in the neighbourhood of Brahmanic buildings and approximating to them in style, contain sculptures which indicate a purely Buddhist cultus and not a mixed pantheon.

Our meagre knowledge of Javanese history makes it difficult to estimate the spheres and relative strength of the two religions. In the plains the Buddhist monuments are more numerous and also more ancient and we might suppose that the temples of Prambanan indicate the beginning of some change in belief. But the temples on the Dieng plateau seem to be of about the same age as the oldest Buddhist monuments. Thus nothing refutes the supposition that Brahmanism existed in Java from the time of the first Hindu colonists and that Buddhism was introduced after 400 A.D. It may be that Boroboedoer and the Dieng plateau represent the religious centres of two different kingdoms. But this supposition is not necessary for in India, whence the Javanese received their ideas, groups of temples are found of the same age but belonging to different sects. Thus in the Khajraho group[441] some shrines are Jain and of the rest some are dedicated to Siva and some to Vishn?u.

The earliest records of Javanese Brahmanism, the inscriptions of Prnavarman, are Vishnuite but the Brahmanism which prevailed in the eighth and ninth centuries was in the main Sivaite, though not of a strongly sectarian type. Brahm, Vishn?u and Siva were all worshipped both at Prambanan and on the Dieng but Siva together with Ganesa, Durg, and Nandi is evidently the chief deity. An image of Siva in the form of Bhat?ra Guru or Mahguru is installed in one of the shrines at Prambanan. This deity is characteristic of Javanese Hinduism and apparently peculiar to it. He is represented as an elderly bearded man wearing a richly ornamented costume. There is something in the pose and drapery which recalls Chinese art and I think the figure is due to Chinese influence, for at the present day many of the images found in the temples of Bali are clearly imitated from Chinese models (or perhaps made by Chinese artists) and this may have happened in earlier times. The Chinese annals record several instances of religious objects being presented by the Emperors to Javanese princes. Though Bhat?ra Guru is only an aspect of Siva he is a sufficiently distinct personality to have a shrine of his own like Ganesa and Durg, in temples where the princ.i.p.al image of Siva is of another kind.

The same type of Brahmanism lasted at least until the erection of Panataran (c. 1150). The temple appears to have been dedicated to Siva but like Prambanan it is ornamented with scenes from the Ramayana and from Vishnuite Purnas[442]. The literature which can be definitely a.s.signed to the reigns of Djajabaja and Erlangga is Brahmanic in tone but both literature and monuments indicate that somewhat later there was a revival of Buddhism. Something similar appears to have happened in other countries. In Camboja the inscriptions of Jayavarman VII (c. 1185 A.D.) are more definitely Buddhist than those of his predecessors and in 1296 Chou Ta-kuan regarded the country as mainly Buddhist. Parakrama Bahu of Ceylon (1153-1186) was zealous for the faith and so were several kings of Siam. I am inclined to think that this movement was a consequence of the flourishing condition of Buddhism at Pagan in Burma from 1050 to 1250. Pagan certainly stimulated religion in both Siam and Ceylon and Siam reacted strongly on Camboja[443]. It is true that the later Buddhism of Java was by no means of the Siamese type, but probably the idea was current that the great kings of the world were pious Buddhists and consequently in most countries the local form of Buddhism, whatever it was, began to be held in esteem. Java had constant communication with Camboja and Champa and a king of Madj.a.pahit married a princess of the latter country. It is also possible that a direct stimulus may have been received from India, for the statement of Trantha[444] that when Bihar was sacked by the Mohammedans the Buddhist teachers fled to other regions and that some of them went to Camboja is not improbable.

But though the prestige of Buddhism increased in the thirteenth century, no rupture with Brahmanism took place and Pali Buddhism does not appear to have entered Java. The unity of the two religions is proclaimed: Buddha and Siva are one. But the Kamahynikan while admitting the Trimrti makes it a derivative, and not even a primary derivative, of the original Buddha spirit. It has been stated that the religion of Java in the Madj.a.pahit epoch was Sivaism with a little Buddhism thrown in, on the understanding that it was merely another method of formulating the same doctrine. It is very likely that the bulk of the population worshipped Hindu deities, for they are the G.o.ds of this world and dispense its good things. Yet the natives still speak of the old religion as Buddhgama; the old times are "Buddha times" and even the flights of stairs leading up to the Dieng plateau are called Buddha steps. This would hardly be so if in the Madj.a.pahit epoch Buddha had not seemed to be the most striking figure in the non-Mohammedan religion. Also, the majority of _religious_ works which have survived from this period are Buddhist. It is true that we have the Ramayana, the Bhrata Yuddha and many other specimens of Brahmanic literature. But these, especially in their Javanese dress, are _belles lettres_ rather than theology, whereas Kamahynikan and Kujarakarna are dogmatic treatises. Hence it would appear that the religious life of Madj.a.pahit was rooted in Buddhism, but a most tolerant Buddhism which had no desire to repudiate Brahmanism.

I have already briefly a.n.a.lysed the Sang Hyang Kamahynikan which seems to be the most authoritative exposition of this creed. The learned editor has collected many parallels from Tibetan and Nepalese works and similar parallels between Javanese and Tibetan iconography have been indicated by Pleyte[445] and others. The explanation must be that the late forms of Buddhist art and doctrine which nourished in Magadha spread to Tibet and Nepal but were also introduced into Java. The Kamahynikan appears to be a paraphrase of a Sanskrit original, perhaps distorted and mutilated. This original has not been identified with any work known to exist in India but might well be a Mahayanist catechism composed there about the eleventh century. The terminology of the treatise is peculiar, particularly in calling the ultimate principle Advaya and the more personal manifestation of it Divarpa. The former term may be paralleled in Hemacandra and the Amarakosha, which give respectively as synonyms for Buddha, advaya (in whom is no duality) and advayavdin (who preaches no duality), but Divarpa has not been found in any other work[446].

It is also remarkable that the Kamahynikan does not teach the doctrine of the three bodies of Buddha[447]. It clearly states[448]

that the Divarpa is identical with the highest being worshipped by various sects: with Paramasnya, Paramasiva, the Purusha of the followers of Kapila, the Nirgun?a of the Vishnuites, etc. Many names of sects and doctrines are mentioned which remain obscure, but the desire to represent them all as essentially identical is obvious.

The Kamahynikan recognizes the theoretical ident.i.ty of the highest principles in Buddhism and Vishnuism[449] but it does not appear that Vishn?u-Buddha was ever a popular conception like Siva-Buddha or that the compound deity called Siva-Vishn?u, Hari-Hara, San?kara-Naryan?a, etc., so well known in Camboja, enjoyed much honour in Java, Vishn?u is relegated to a distinctly secondary position and the Javanese version of the Mahabharata is more distinctly Sivaite than the Sanskrit text. Still he has a shrine at Prambanan, the story of the Ramayana is depicted there and at Panataran, and various unedited ma.n.u.scripts contain allusions to his worship, more especially to his incarnation as Narasimha and to the Garud?a on which he rides[450].

8

At present nearly all the inhabitants of Java profess Islam although the religion of a few tribes, such as the Tenggarese, is still a mixture of Hinduism with indigenous beliefs. But even among nominal Moslims some traces of the older creed survive. On festival days such monuments as Boroboedoer and Prambanan are frequented by crowds who, if they offer no worship, at least take pleasure in examining the ancient statues. Some of these however receive more definite honours: they are painted red and modest offerings of flowers and fruit are laid before them. Yet the respect shown to particular images seems due not to old tradition but to modern and wrongheaded interpretations of their meaning. Thus at Boroboedoer the relief which represents the good tortoise saving a shipwrecked crew receives offerings from women because the small figures on the tortoise's back are supposed to be children. The minor forms of Indian mythology still flourish. All cla.s.ses believe in the existence of raksasas, boetas (bhtas) and widadaris (vidydhars), who are regarded as spirits similar to the Jinns of the Arabs. Lakshm survives in the female genius believed even by rigid Mohammedans to preside over the cultivation of rice and the somewhat disreputable sect known as Santri Birahis are said to adore devas and the forces of nature[451]. Less obvious, but more important as more deeply affecting the national character, is the tendency towards mysticism and asceticism. What is known as ngelmoe[452] plays a considerable part in the religious life of the modern Javanese. The word is simply the Arabic 'ilm (or knowledge) used in the sense of secret science. It sometimes signifies mere magic but the higher forms of it, such as the _ngelmoe peling_, are said to teach that the contemplative life is the way to the knowledge of G.o.d and the attainment of supernatural powers. With such ngelmoe is often connected a belief in metempsychosis, in the illusory nature of the world, and in the efficacy of regulating the breath. Asceticism is still known under the name of tp and it is said that there are many recluses who live on alms and spend their time in meditation. The affinity of all this to Indian religion is obvious, although the Javanese have no idea that it is in any way incompatible with orthodox Islam.

Indian religion, which in Java is represented merely by the influence of the past on the present, is not dead in Bali[453] where, though much mixed with aboriginal superst.i.tions, it is still a distinct and national faith, able to hold its own against Mohammedanism and Christianity[454].

The island of Bali is divided from the east coast of Java only by a narrow strait but the inhabitants possess certain characters of their own. They are more robust in build, their language is distinct from Javanese though belonging to the same group, and even the alphabet presents idiosyncrasies. Their laws, social inst.i.tutions, customs and calendar show many peculiarities, explicable on the supposition that they have preserved the ancient usages of pre-Mohammedan Java. At present the population is divided into the Bali-Agas or aborigines and the Wong Madj.a.pahit who profess to have immigrated from that kingdom.

The Chinese references[455] to Bali seem uncertain but, if accepted, indicate that it was known in the middle ages as a religious centre.

It was probably a colony and dependency of Madj.a.pahit and when Madj.a.pahit fell it became a refuge for those who were not willing to accept Islam.

Caste is still a social inst.i.tution in Bali, five cla.s.ses being recognized, namely Brahmans, Kshatriyas (Satriyas), Vaisyas (Visias), Sudras and Parias. These distinctions are rigidly observed and though intermarriage (which in former times was often punished with death) is now permitted, the offspring are not recognized as belonging to the caste of the superior parent. The bodies of the dead are burned and Sati, which was formerly frequent, is believed still to take place in n.o.ble families. Pork is the only meat used and, as in other Hindu countries, oxen are never slaughtered.

An idea of the Balinese religion may perhaps be given most easily by describing some of the temples. These are very abundant: in the neighbourhood of Boeleling (the capital) alone I have seen more than ten of considerable size. As buildings they are not ancient, for the stone used is soft and does not last much more than fifty years. But when the edifices are rebuilt the ancient shape is preserved and what we see in Bali to-day probably represents the style of the middle ages. The temples consist of two or more courts surrounded by high walls. Worship is performed in the open air: there are various pyramids, seats, and small shrines like dovecots but no halls or rooms. The gates are ornamented with the heads of monsters, especially lions with large ears and winglike expansions at the side. The outermost gate has a characteristic shape. It somewhat resembles an Indian gopuram divided into two parts by a sharp, clean cut in the middle and tradition quotes in explanation the story of a king who was refused entrance to heaven but cleft a pa.s.sage through the portal with his sword.

In the outer court stand various sheds and hollow wooden cylinders which when struck give a sound like bells. Another ornamented doorway leads to the second court where are found some or all of the following objects: (_a_) Sacred trees, especially _Ficus elastica_. (_b_) Sheds with seats for human beings. It is said that on certain occasions these are used by mediums who become inspired by the G.o.ds and then give oracles, (_c_) Seats for the G.o.ds, generally under sheds. They are of various kinds. There is usually one conspicuous chair with an ornamental back and a scroll hanging behind it which bears some such inscription as "This is the chair of the Bhatra." Any deity may be invited to take this seat and receive worship. Sometimes a stone linga is placed upon it. In some temples a stone chair, called padmsana, is set apart for Srya. (_d_) Small shrines two or three feet high, set on posts or pedestals. When well executed they are similar to the cabinets used in j.a.panese temples as shrines for images but when, as often happens, they are roughly made they are curiously like dovecots. On them are hung strips of dried palm-leaves in bunches like the j.a.panese _gohei_. As a rule the shrines contain no image but only a small seat and some objects said to be stones which are wrapped up in a cloth and called Artjeh[456]. In some temples (_e.g._ the Bale Agoeng at Singaraja) there are erections called Meru, supposed to represent the sacred mountain where the G.o.ds reside. They consist of a stout pedestal or basis of brick on which is erected a cabinet shrine as already described. Above this are large round discs made of straw and wood, which may be described as curved roofs or umbrellas. They are from three to five in number and rise one above the other, with slight intervals between them. (_e_) In many temples (for instance at Sangsit and Sawan) pyramidal erections are found either in addition to the Merus or instead of them. At the end of the second court is a pyramid in four stages or terraces, often with prolongations at the side of the main structure or at right angles to it. It is ascended by several staircases, consisting of about twenty-five steps, and at the top are rows of cabinet shrines.

Daily worship is not performed in these temples but offerings are laid before the shrines from time to time by those who need the help of the G.o.ds and there are several annual festivals. The object of the ritual is not to honour any image or object habitually kept in the temple but to induce the G.o.ds, who are supposed to be hovering round like birds, to seat themselves in the chair provided or to enter into some sacred object, and then receive homage and offerings. Thus both the ideas and ceremonial are different from those which prevail in Hindu temples and have more affinity with Polynesian beliefs. The deities are called Dewa, but many of them are indigenous nature spirits (especially mountain spirits) such as Dewa Gunung Agung, who are sometimes identified with Indian G.o.ds.

Somewhat different are the Durg temples. These are dedicated to the spirits of the dead but the images of Durg and her attendant Kaliki receive veneration in them, much as in Hindu temples. But on the whole the Malay or Polynesian element seemed to me to be in practice stronger than Hinduism in the religion of the Balinese and this is borne out by the fact that the Pemangku or priest of the indigenous G.o.ds ranks higher than the Pedanda or Brahman priest. But by talking to Balinese one may obtain a different impression, for they are proud of their connection with Madj.a.pahit and Hinduism: they willingly speak of such subjects and Hindu deities are constantly represented in works of art. Ganesa, Indra, Vishn?u, Kr?ishn?a, Srya, Garud?a and Siva, as well as the heroes of the Mahbhrata, are well known but I have not heard of worship being offered to any of them except Durg and Siva under the form of the linga. Figures of Vishn?u riding on Garud?a are very common and a certain cla.s.s of artificers are able to produce images of all well known Indian G.o.ds for those who care to order them. Many Indian works such as the Veda, Mahbhrata, Rmyana, Brahmpurn?a and Ntisstra are known by name and are said to exist not in the original Sanskrit but in Kawi.

I fancy that they are rarely read by the present generation, but any knowledge of them is much respected. The Balinese though confused in their theology are greatly attached to their religion and believe it is the ancient faith of Madj.a.pahit.

I was unable to discover in the neighbourhood of Singarja even such faint traces of Buddhism as have been reported by previous authors[457], but they may exist elsewhere. The expression Siva-Buddha was known to the Pedandas but seemed to have no living significance, and perhaps certain families have a traditional and purely nominal connection with Buddhism. In Durg temples however I have seen figures described as Pusa, the Chinese equivalent of Bodhisattva, and it seems that Chinese artists have reintroduced into this miscellaneous pantheon an element of corrupt Buddhism, though the natives do not recognize it as such.

The art of Bali is more fantastic than that of ancient Java. The carved work, whether in stone or wood, is generally polychromatic.

Figures are piled one on the top of another as in the sculptures of Central America and there is a marked tendency to emphasize projections. Leaves and flowers are very deeply carved and such features as ears, tongues and teeth are monstrously prolonged. Thus Balinese statues and reliefs have a curiously bristling and scaly appearance and are apt to seem barbaric, especially if taken separately[458]. Yet the general aspect of the temples is not unpleasing. The brilliant colours and fantastic outlines harmonize with the tropical vegetation which surrounds them and suggest that the guardian deities take shape as gorgeous insects. Such bizarre figures are not unknown in Indian mythology but in Balinese art Chinese influence is perhaps stronger than Indian. The Chinese probably frequented the island as early as the Hindus and are now found there in abundance. Besides the statues called Pusa already mentioned, Chinese landscapes are often painted behind the seats of the Devas and in the temple on the Volcano Batoer, where a special place is a.s.signed to all the Balinese tribes, the Chinese have their own shrine. It is said that the temples in southern Bali which are older and larger than those in the north show even more decided signs of Chinese influence and are surrounded by stone figures of Chinese as guardians.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 369: I have not been able to find anything more than casual and second-hand statements to the effect that Indian antiquities have been found in these islands.]

[Footnote 370: There is no lack of scholarly and scientific works about Java, but they are mostly written in Dutch and dissertations on special points are more numerous than general surveys of Javanese history, literature and architecture. Perhaps the best general account of the Hindu period in Java will be found in the chapter contributed by Kern to the publication called _Neerlands Indi_ (Amsterdam, 1911, chap. VI. II. pp. 219-242). The abundant publications of the Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen comprise _Verhandelingen, Notulen_, and the _Tijdschrift voor Indische Taal-, Land-, en Volkenkunde_ (cited here as _Tijdschrift_), all of which contain numerous and important articles on history, philology, religion and archology. The last is treated specially in the publications called _Archaeologisch Onderzoek op Java en Madura_.

Veth's _Java_, vols. I. and IV. and various articles in the _Encyclopaedie van Nederlandsch-Indi_ may also be consulted. I have endeavoured to mention the more important editions of Javanese books as well as works dealing specially with the old religion in the notes to these chapters.

Although Dutch orthography is neither convenient nor familiar to most readers I have thought it better to preserve it in transcribing Javanese. In this system of transcription j = y; tj = ch; dj = j; sj = sh; w = v; oe = u.]

[Footnote 371: Rm. IV. 40. 30. Yavadvpam saptarjyopasobhitam Suvarn?arpyakadvpam suvarn?akaraman?d?itam.]

[Footnote 372: Ptolemy's _Geography_, VII. 2. 29 (see also VIII. 27, 10). _?aad??? (? Saad???), ? s?a??e? ??????, ??s??. ??f???t?t? d?

???eta? ? ??s?? e??a? ?a? ?t? p?e?st?? ???s?? p??e??, ??e?? te ?t??p???? ???a ??????? ?p? t??? d?s????? p??as??_.]

[Footnote 373: The Milinda Pah of doubtful but not very late date also mentions voyages to China.]