Story of Bali, Indonesia

After washing the corpse, adolescent males carry it-to the cemetery and bury it Small object are stuck in the grave to allow-egress of the soul. In striking contrast, in the aboriginal village of Trunyan. little influenced by Hinduism, there is no burial-, the body is set out in the forest to deteriorated and be eaten by animals.

Although the custom of including beef at offerings is peculiar to Bayung Gede, the matter of no taboo against eating beef does not signify an absence of Balinese Hindu influence, as Bateson and Mead believed. Generally, the -taboo against eating beef is not widespread throughout Bali. In olden times the highest caste (priests) did have a taboo against eating beef but the vast majority of the population observe this practice only sporadically, depending on family custom in the plains and mountain villages. Balinese who avoid eating beef do so because it is their family custom (e.g. they nay believe that eating beef will make them sick) and not because it is an Indian Hindu religious custom. .

Contrary to Bateson and Mead's statement that the people of Bayung Gede lack membership in any caste, there is a caste in Bayung Gede; all of the people come from the lowest caste, Jaba, formerly called Sudra, because they are poor peasants. There are no residents of a higher caste. The people were well aware of differences in proper language for addressing persons of a higher caste and status from outside the village.

Although Bayung Gede is seldom visited by tourists, it ha's gained fame among -students of culture as a result of Bateson and Mead's detailed and original work 50 years ago, and it certainly merits further study. Data about Bayung Gede which bear on Bateson and Mead findings and provide additional data about the village are presented below.

Some aspects of Bayung Gede houses, architecture, customs, and roads are different, if not unique. Traditionally, each household compound has three structures, (1) a kitchen which is also the sleeping place of the parents, the area for delivery of babies, and the place for the corpse when a family member dies; (2) the sleeping place for children, as well as storage place for ceremonial objects: and (3) the storage place for rice. By contrast, in the typical compound of a Balinese Hindu house, there are five to seven separate buildings, including one for grandparents, one to three for ceremonies. and the kitchen used solely for preparing food.

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