THE BANDJAR

By noon the banquet took place, the men sitting in the bale bandjar in two long rows facing each other with their individual mountains of rice, pig, and turtle meats served in large square of banana leaf, drinking tuak and making loud jokes. When the meal was over, kendis of water were passed so that the guest could wash their hands and mouths. The rest of the day and most of the night was spent watching cockfights, plays, and dances.

Most important of bandjar property is a little communal temple (pamaksan) . If the bandjar grows beyond the function of village quarters, or " ward," its pamaksan temple may become a temple of " origin "; then they will build their formal village temple (pura desa) , their temple of the dead, out in the cemetery, and, having the three reglementarv temples (kahyangan tiga) that every complete community needs, they will ask for independence from the village and will become a full-fledged free desa.

In the old mountain villages the desa system has remained untouched by the influence of the princes. Before the advent of the Dutch, they controlled their states through district landlords, the Pungawas, usually members of the prince's familv, who appointed lesser tax-collectors, the Perbekel, one in every village. A Perbekel ruled only with the interest of his master in mind, often disregarding the local adat, with the result that he was regarded as an intruder and remained a complete outsider in the affairs of the village.

Thus the system was saved because these agents had to be content with collection of taxes and the enforcement of princely orders. But the Balinese could always find regulations to curtail the power of the princes, and if their demands interfered too much with traditional institutions, the people simply boycotted them and refused to obey.

Following the conquest of Bali, the Dutch found the desas divided into many small spheres of influence: the princes, the desa chiefs, bandjar heads, and so forth. In the hasty reorganization of the political system they centralized the Government for control of the complex conglomerate of desas, logically enough, following the system of the princes, creating Government districts headed by Dutch officials assisted by the former landlords.

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