Atonmcsie nret lactuisng
tmoa trnriratghess, , and deaths.
feasts in his commemoration, x a »thick occasions prayers are oflfesed up ;for
the happiness ofhissoul.
- The feadydsiaterxed after 1 the -usual manner, of ..thp Mahometamh and a
sambqja tree is usuallyiplanted by its side. -It is the universal .practice-of
the relatives- of the deceased to .strew thp graves several times, in. the year
with the swe§t-scented flowers o£fthe suldsi (the tulsi of Bengal), which are
raised: exclusively for /thisi purpose.. The- burial-grounds are, in general,
well chosen: In Kedu, where the most beautifohiemirienGes have hefln
selected for fhisjplfposai, and wh-erp- lih^' S^mboja tree grows wi.th the greatest
luyiptaagfy they form veryinteresring; objects in the landscape. -The
hurial-places of the royal family and of the raobles'of the country-'are usually
called astdnct; they are surrounded by one- or mpre high walls, tandliri general
by; stately waqmg’e®i tee®®; r The tombs are sometimes orpamented with
sculptural devices and »sell-executed inscriptions, either in the-Javan or-
Arabic character. They are kept clean and repaired-by contributions frbm
all parts of the country, under the superintendence of. priests appointed, to
tpai particular duty, and are;respected - and; [guarded- v?;thrrehgious veneration:
end zeaL. The burial place of the family now on the'throne.is at Me~
giriy in the province.of Matarem, a few .miles' distant from th e ; .modern
capital of Ydgya-Mrta.
—As the Javans are still devotedly attached4 to* their^andient' customs and
ceremonies (few.of which they havesaerificed-to -their -new faith),T;shall,
in order to give a better idea of. those still observed on the most Remarkable
occasions, present a short account of -theit state anterior to the .introduction
of Mahometanism, as far as it pas be'ascertained. Though, as Mahometans,
they are averse to an open .avowal^ of .Pagan practices, they'Stilb preserve
them more or lesp, according as,the parties happen^ to bedess ior imere under
the influence of Arab priests-
. When a woman, was: pregnant .with Jher first child,., at the expiration)of
four months a feast was given, .at which yellow rice was served up.u This
entertainment was insignificant compared with that whichwas observed at
the expiration of seven months, when the gueste-were presented . with-d'orii,
gold, silver, and steel, according-to the means of < the parties, a piece of
steel never failing to be~dn!e~of the “gifts, though y t did not exceed the
size of a,needle. On.this occasion a new bath was prepared in the evening,
and watched during the night. by the light of a lamp» *&$ tjs&siflo OjC. the
bath were laid two stalks of fhe dark eoloured sugar cane, as an offering to
- JSatdra
Batdm JSdfa; ä painted ©loth of the--pattern; listhkh wdtk', And ia young-cocoit
nut' QsMngkvr gdding), on which’ was' en’g f t h e . resemblance r-i5f Pdnji
J^edtct Pdibsiftiä. .his ’Wife Chdndra Kirdna xs§lDMd. - In the morning, the
wife, after putting on the-• doth, ^entered the bath, when the watet*'from the
you'ng cocba-nuf;wd^f?(ire®1ovef''h"er :1 (faring the day it was also incum*
fee’n f oft -h‘et to change het-'d^eis RämOT&tMPeä.- At tfa'e -feast-' given-1- on this
©fission, fish, flesh, and fowl were invariably served up, and perforWialnceS
of the -w^i&^-'Wefe-’eXhibit’ed1. ’ '
■'•Immediately ^öh the birth-öf fhe feWM’rit was placed in a kind’of basket
tnäde \>f 1 #dMbus~‘(fa fossil similar to the ;si$vei,or farming basket rased for
separating the' chaff frota ’■the-'ricd), the relations, were':assembled, -and the
remains o f ;the -kffiMlicif cord1 We;re- carefullyhut off fey irieansfof aipiece -of
sharpened bdfnbu. The part' ^abstracted1 by this operation Was deposited in
#teiMferier"bf fa äcbcpa^iiut,’’with a' lump of ,’f lirftjetick placed"'under--it.
TffisMbbcöäÄut wais ornamented on-the-‘-outside J with A e twenty, letters'of
Ufo Javan Alphabet. It Was afterwards put into: an «attheü-potj and either
buried under - ground 'dr thrown intb the-sea’. Av; stofie- roMiUgipin^ dressed'
up tike a baby ’Was placed dirthe basket® its stead. The female relations
Relieved eäcfi öther through thfe; day! and- night,'- in constantly supporting
fhb child id their arms: till’tho navel Was healed; "the malelrelatiohs all the
While -reading atfd -re'citi'ng theklsfory;oF JRdrita, and othermythological
ötel historical romances.' ‘'Äs-söhn hs the’©Md; was recdteied, a grand feast
Wakfebserved^’- Vrith!'pdrform'äU'öes;‘0f ' thk -wäynrig.'-' Nedrthe 'Ddlcmg^ (director
WaS> plated- a -bowl tefr pure-Water, into which fresh and
sfroet-scented^fibwers'~ We>e ©iasty'tWo black' - sügaT-canes,'na: clot-la ';of: the
tirnuh 'mdht pattern, and "aipiece-of white ctoth.prtqgettefi'with abundle of
pdri and different kinds o f eatables. On this bcfcaki&rf 'was exhibited the
drama of Batdra Üürgd and 'S%rigi xM g J u g a n ]y a td ^ ^ ^ ^ d 6 '‘&ekign^io'as
of (xiiru), at that passage where,' t during the first two quarters- of the mobil;1
thA former appealed'Ä -i|®f S a m i A b t e w h e r e . , in *the
City,of Kurü'fi'Sfra Gdcnäafndyu, ehe is d e if f e ^ b f a -sdn, Ba'tdra Kdta,
having the form of a Rasd&a, u^gteeqy tpvdbstr,oy-and ngyaur ^ n k in d .”
At that .part of the performance when Sang Yang Jtfgat^fa® takes the child
on’ his lap- lb,« Ttdlnmg did the same with-thAinfänt. repeating thedssoca-
tion, “ hotig‘l Md-hengP* several times,1 and' Afterwards retdrning' it dnto
* T '■ , B p 1 ' ^ ■' k' the
* During the tVo latter quarters of the moon shells ’consiuered as appearing in the form of
a Rasäfaa, and is then more properly called Dürga.