THE CASTES

Certain professions are unclean, and if practised within the village pollute the desa, such as the indigo-dyers, pottery-, palmsugar-, and arak-makers. Although Korn claims there are no real outcastes in Bali, I was told by everybody that indigo-dyers belong to a special caste, the pamesan, who are forbidden by traditional law to use wood or cotton in their cremation bier, which should be open, without a roof, and devoid of ornaments.

They said that the pamesan are often rich and careful to conceal their origin. When it is mentioned that someone is a pamesan, it is done in a pitying whisper. There was a scandal in Den Pasar about someone who had maliciously accused another of being a pamesan. This may perhaps point to a trace of the idea of the outcaste.

The aristocracy divides the population of Bali into " insiders " (dalem) , which are themselves, those who live within the palace; and the " outsiders " (djaba) , the common people. From the point of view of the great majority of the Balinese, this is a fallacy, since it is the nobility who are the real outsiders.

The feudalism of the Hindu aristocracy was curiously only superimposed on the Balinese patriarchal communism, and centuries of feudal rule have failed to do away with the closed independence of the village communities. Thus the nobility is left devoid of voice where it concerns the inner affairs of the community, despite the Pungawas and Perbekels they appoint to keep an eye on the villagers.

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