Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Balinese Leaf Manuscripts
Balinese Leaf Manuscripts
Hinzler
Balinese palm-leaf manuscripts
In: Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, Manuscripts of Indonesia 149 (1993), no: 3,
Leiden, 438-473
1. Introduction
This article2 deals with a particular kind of writing material that was and
still is being used in Bali and the western part of Lombok which is inhab-
ited by Balinese. It is made of leaves, usually the fan-shaped leaves of the
lontar palm tree (Borassus flabellifer oxflabelliformis, or Palmyra), and is
still being used for rendering texts, particularly texts which are important to
the owner because of containing information concerning his family, reli-
gious practices, privileges, profession (for example, priest or exorcist) or the
deeds of his Indian ancestors. For this reason, lontar are kept and venerated
by many Balinese. Another palm tree, the gehang (Corypha gebanga),
sometimes called 'wild lontar' (Ginarsa 1975:92), is also mentioned in
connection with writing material (for instance in the introductory prayer of
a wayang puppet performance by North Balinese dalang). However, the
gehang was, at least in the 1930s, very rare in Bali, whereas lontar palms
grew abundantly in the dry areas (Cox 1931:189). In Lombok the situation
was the reverse: there, lontar palms had to be cultivated (Cox 1931:189).
In the more remote eastem parts of the Lesser Sunda Islands, however, lon-
tar palms were abundant (Cox 1931:189). Another plant fibre, the bract of
the pudak (the flower of the pandanus shrub), may also serve as writing
' I wish to thank Ida I Dwa Catra from Karangasem and the late I Gusti Ngurah
Ketut Sangka from Krambitan for their valuable information and support.
2
The spelling of Balinese words in this article follows the conventions estab-
lished by the Indonesian Department of Education and Culture in 1974. In
order to avoid mispronunciation of the /e/, I have marked it by means of accents
ll and // and I represent the shwa by an unmarked /e/, as in the second edition of
the Kamus Bali-Indonesia (Warna et al. 1991). The names of persons, but not
their titles, I have indicated in the old spelling when it is still used by the
relatives of the person in question. Thus, I write Djlantik instead of Jelantik. For
Old Javanese words and terms I have used the spelling from Zoetmulder's Old
Javanese-English dictionary (1982).
H.I.R. HINZLER teaches archaeology and art history of Southeast Asia at the
University of Leiden. Her publications include Bima Swarga in Balinese
wayang (The Hague: Nijhoff, 1981. Verhandelingen van het KITLV 90) and the
Catalogue of Balinese manuscripts in the library of the University of Leiden
and other collections in the Netherlands (Leiden: Brill, Leiden University
Press, 1986-1987. 2 vols. Bibliotheca Universitatis Leidensis Codices Manu-
scripti 23). Dr Hinzler may be contacted at the Vakgroep TCZOAO, Rijksuni-
versiteit, P.O. Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands.
Balinese palm-leaf manuscripts 439
material, but only for short notes. Leaves of the gebang and lontar palms
were also used as writing material on other islands (Java, Madura and Sula-
wesi, for instance), but their production and social importance in these areas
will not be discussed in this paper.
Most of the information collected for this article dates from the end of
the nineteenth or the beginning of the twentieth century. The main sources
are the Balinese palm-leaf manuscripts now in the collection of Leiden Uni-
versity Library; the Kawi-Balinese-Dutch dictionary (KBNWB) compiled
by H.N. van der Tuuk between 1870 and 1894; articles by Ch.J. Grader and
Ch. Hooykaas (1941; based on data from Karangasem and North Bali,
respectively) and by two Balinese authors from North Bali, I Ketut Ginarsa
(1975) and I Ketut Suwidja (1979). More recent data are based on my own
fieldwork trips between 1972 and 1992 in North, Central and South Bali. I
collected information with the help of the late I Gusti Ngurah Ketut Sangka
from Puri Ged in Krambitan (Tabanan) and Ida I Dwa Ged Catra from
Puri Kanginan in Sidemen (Karangasem). The latter is involved in a palm-
leaf manuscripts project and processes the leaves for this project himself.
Up until now, not much has been written about Balinese palm-leaf manu-
scripts and their production in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Nor is much known about the production of palm-leaf manuscripts before
the nineteenth century.
Questions that should be asked include the following.
1. Who produced writing materials, and why did they do so?
2. What kinds of technical skills and tools are involved in transforming
palm leaves into writing material?
3. What specific terms does Balinese have for tools, writing materials and
writing?
4. Are traditional writing materials still produced in Bali today?
5. Ls there any relationship between the content or nature of the text and
the sort and size of the writing material used?
6. What is the oldest evidence in Bali of writing in general and writing
on palm leaf in particular?
7. In what collection is the oldest Balinese palm-leaf manuscript kept?
8. What kinds of alphabets and languages are involved when palm leaf is
used as the writing material?
9. What was the value of palm leaf as writing material compared to other
writing materials?
10. Who was able to write and read?
11. Is there a tendency to replace old-fashioned writing materials by new
materials, in particular paper?
In the following sections I shall try to answer these questions. I shall ad-
dress the technical aspects of the processing of leaves; the production of
manuscripts; writing, script and spelling; and the copying of manuscripts.
First, however, I shall give some background information on Bali, its litera-
ture and literary life.
440 H.I.R. Hinzler
2. Background information on Bali
The island of Bali is situated in the Indian Ocean between Java and Lom-
bok. There are presently 2,782,038 inhabitants (census of 1985), the majori-
ty of whom are Balinese. Of these, 93 per cent are Hindu. Chinese, Madur-
ese, East Javanese, Buginese, Sasak, Indians and 'westemers' (Europeans,
Australians, Americans) form a minority.
Since the end of the ninth century there have been Hindu and Buddhist
realms on Bali. It is possible that Hinduism and Buddhism were introduced
directly by Indians. Around the end of the tenth century there was a great
deal of contact and intermarriage between Balinese and East Javanese courts.
On at least two occasions, Bali was vanquished by the East Javanese: in
1284 by King Kertanagara of the Singhasari Dynasty and in 1343 by Gen-
eral Gajah Mada on behalf of King Hayam Wuruk of the Majapahit Dy-
nasty. Following this conquest, Bali became a vassal state of Majapahit and
the religion of Bali was streamlined after the East Javanese example. This
resulted in a syncretism between Hinduism and Buddhism combined with
strong Tantric elements. Samkhya, Jnanasiddhanta and the veneration of the
god Siwa as Surya, combined with a more ancient, indigenous ancestor cult,
became the characteristic elements of the religion of Bali. Starting in the
1950s, there has been a renewal of direct contacts between Bali and India.
Balinese students of religion have come under the influence of the ideas of
Gandhi, Vivekananda, Sivananda and Sai Baba and have incorporated these
into their religious writings (Bakker 1993).
From the end of the sixteenth century, Bali was ruled by royalty who
styled themselves satria dalem. The main rulers, the Dalem, referred to as
Dwa Agung, resided in Glgl until 1700 and have lived in Klungkung in
eastern Central Bali since 1710. Appanages were held by wsia, entitled
arya, who, up to about 1700, recognized the Dwa Agung as the sole ruler
of Bali. In the course of time, these arya became more and more independent
of the Dwa Agung. They ruled over their own territories as 'kings' and
even began to call themselves satria. By the nineteenth century, there were
nine such realms on Bali (Bullng and Banjar in the north, Karangasem,
Bangli and Gianyar in the centre, Badung, Tabanan and Mengwi in the
south and Jembrana in the west) who to only a limited extent recognized
the Dwa Agung in Klungkung as their central authority. After Karangasem
vanquished and occupied the western part of Lombok in 1750, it became a
Hindu realm as well. All these petty kingdoms have developed their own
variety of Hinduism and Hindu culture. In the second half of the nineteenth
century (1868) the Dutch entered Bali. At first, it was only Bullng, in the
north, that was affected but, starting in 1906, the Dutch vanquished and oc-
cupied South Bali as well. They then divided the island into eight parts
(Banjar and Bullng were united and Mengwi no longer existed because it
had been vanquished by Badung and Tabanan in 1890 and its territory di-
vided between them). As a result of this, western ideas entered Bali. Since
Balinese palm-leaf manuscripts 441
1918, tourists have been visiting Bali and, over time, it has become well
known as the 'Island of the Gods', the 'Last' or 'Ultimate Paradise'.
The language and religion, the arts (architecture, sculpture, painting, draw-
ing, theatre, dance) and the literature of Bali were influenced in an early pe-
riod by contacts with Hindu-Buddhistic-Tantristic Java. Bali's culture was
also influenced by contacts with India, through Java, dating from at least
the end of the tenth to the sixteenth century. From the sixteenth to the end
of the nineteenth century, contacts with Muslims from Java (in particular
Blambangan in the east), Lombok (the Sasak) and Sulawesi (the Buginese
also frequently sailed to Lombok) have left their mark as well. Contacts
with the Dutch - in particular with civil servants who were specialists in
languages, ancient history and religion - created a Dutch-educated Balinese
elite at the beginning of the twentieth century. These Balinese were not
only versed in the traditional ways of thinking but also in western, analyti-
cal science. As a result Bali now has a rich literature in many languages and
with loanwords from numerous sources (Sanskrit, Old Javanese, Old Bali-
nese, Modern Balinese, Sasak, Malay and Indonesian and some Dutch).
Balinese literature encompasses ancient Javanese literary texts based on
the Indian epics Ramayana and Mahabharata as well as poems and prose
texts on related subjects. It also includes religion and local history com-
posed in Java between the tenth and sixteenth centuries. These texts were
transferred to Bali and are still being used and copied. In Java, however,
when the people rejected Hinduism and Buddhism in favour of Islam, the
majority of their ancient texts disappeared or received a new, Muslim var-
nish. From the sixteenth century until recently, the Balinese composed a lit-
erature which is their own, although it is largely based on the 'classics'
from ancient Java. The language of the classical works is Old Javanese,
which has many Sanskrit loanwords; Balinese is used tor folk tales and
translations of classical works. Ever since Indonesia's Independence in
August 1945, the national language, Indonesian, has been widely used for
literary works as well as for communication.
Starting in the 1840s, Balinese specialists and Dutch scholars have oc-
cupied themselves with Balinese literature and the division of Balinese lit-
erature into genres. In 1928, this division became an important issue when a
library - the Lontar Foundation Kirtya Liefrinck-Van der Tuuk, named after
the two most famous Bali scholars at that time, F.A. Liefrinck (1853-1927)
and H.N. van der Tuuk (1824-1894) - was founded in Singaraja in the re-
gency of Bullng by the Dutch in cooperation with Balinese advisers.
They divided Balinese literature into six groups according to 'genre' (Ka-
djeng 1929:19-40), as follows:
442 H.I.R. Hinzler
1. wda: texts on religion, ritual, holy formulas (languages: mainly Old
Javanese with many Sanskrit words and phrases; Balinese is used only
in later, twentieth-century texts)
2. agama: law codes, rules of behaviour for children and royalty (niti-
sastra, sasana, putra sasana), village regulations (languages: Old Ja-
vanese and Balinese)
3. wariga: handbooks on horoscopes, soothsaying, calendars, technical lit-
erature, science, instruction (tutur, upadsa), grammars, magical texts
(kanda), medicine, cock fighting, how to keep horses, doves, etc. (lan-
guage: mainly Old Javanese)
4. itihasa: prose versions of the Mahabharata (parwa), versions of the
Ramayana and Mahabharata in verse (kakawin with Indian metrical
schemes), stories, in verse, situated in ancient East Java or India
(kidung with Javanese metrical schemes) and their modern versions in
verse (parikan, geguritan with Javanese/Balinese metrical schemes) and
prose (satua) (languages: Old Javanese, Balinese, Sasak, Malay)
5. babad: chronicles, historical stories, genealogies (languages: mainly
Old Javanese, sometimes Balinese)
6. tantri: fables based mainly on the Indian Pancatantra, folk tales, rid-
dles (languages: Old Javanese, Balinese, Sasak).
Kadjeng does not state that this division into genres is hierarchical or that
texts on religion and religious philosophy (wda, agama) have a higher
status than versions of the Indian epics Mahabharata and Ramayana (iti-
hasa) or fables (tantri). The division had a practical purpose, namely to
catalogue books and texts from a library according to subject matter. Edict
No. 10, written by the rulers of Karangasem (see Liefrinck 1915), also lists
the literature of Bali. It begins with kidung, kakawin, continues with sasa-
na, tutur, wariga, then the Astadasaparwa (versions of the Mahabharata
in prose and poetry), the Brahmandapurana, the Sarasamuscaya (titles of
texts), the Astakanda (versions of the Ramayana in poetry and prose),
tattwa, purwaka, wda, mantra and ends with swarka. Metrical schemes,
genres and titles of texts are enumerated. There is no rxed criterion for the
division of this list into genres. It is more likely that the ruler used this list
to express his opinion about the hierarchy of the texts.
Kings, princes and local royalty stimulated the arts and literature. In
North Bali (Bullng) and South Bali (in the regencies of Karangasem,
Klungkung, Bangli, Badung and Tabanan) kings, princes and princesses
were themselves also authors of poems and historical works. Brahmans, who
served the royalty as their religious specialists, were also well known as au-
thors of kakawin, religious and historical treatments and genealogies.
According to the Kidung Pamancangah, a chronicle composed in verse
by Ida Pedanda Ged Rai (Tinggen 1982:69) in 1785, the rulers Dalem
Batu Renggong (ca. 1550) and Dalem Bekung (1580) of Glgl employed
scholarly clerks and authors (manghuri, panulisan; see Berg 1927:27-46).
These were not only Balinese noblemen and clergymen of brahman descent
Balinese palm-leaf manuscripts 443
(Kyai Dauh Bal Agung, Ida Talaga), but also Javanese brahmans who most
probably had fled from Java and settled in Bali (Dang Hyang Nirartha).
Little is known about the literature composed between the Klungkung pe-
riod, which began in 1710, and the beginning of the nineteenth century. It
is probable that, after the fall of Glgl around 1700 - which resulted in the
founding of eight petty kingdoms - many chronicles (including the Pama-
ncangah) and genealogies (babad) were composed which stressed ties with
the former Hindu-Buddhist realm of Majapahit in East Java (Hinzler 1986:
124-165). It is quite possible that the authors of these works were brahmans
who were employed by the new rulers and the local nobility of Bali.
Brahmans were chosen because they were specialists in Old Javanese, the
language in which these works had to be written. These new rulers created a
kind of literary court life, following the example of the rulers of the previ-
ous Glgl period.
Apart from poems with Indian metrical schemes (kakawin), poems (ki-
dung) with intricate, indigenous metres were composed from the Glgl
period to the end of the nineteenth century. These were tables and stories
that dealt with love and court life in twelfth- to tifteenth-century East Java.
By the end of the eighteenth century a new literary genre had developed:
the poem in the Balinese language and in new Javanese/Balinese metrical
schemes, the geguritan or peparikan. This genre deals with Balinese folk
tales, love stories, adaptations of Indian epics and Old Javanese poems (ka-
kawin), and family history.
I Gusti Putu Djlantik (old spelling), a member of the North Balinese no-
bility, gained much influence as adviser to the Dutch, who were beginning
to establish their power in Lombok and Bali. Becoming a punggawa (offi-
cial), this man travelled with the Dutch army during the conquest of South
Bali (Badung and Tabanan in 1906, Klungkung in 1908). During his
travels, he collected manuscripts from palaces which had been vanquished
by the Dutch (Mataram, Cakranegara, Badung, Tabanan, Klungkung), thus
compiling an enormous library in Puri Gobraja, his own palace in Singaraja.
Until his death in 1945, he copied and composed works himself and also
commissioned others to make copies of manuscripts for his collection. He
was one of the founders of the library in Singaraja - the Kirtya Liefrinck-
Van der Tuuk - in 1928, and he was the trst to offer manuscripts from his
collection to be copied for the library.
The leaves of the lontar palm tree provide better writing material than those
of the gehang tree (Grader and Hooykaas 1941:23; personal communication
Catra 1990, 1991).
The best lontar palm leaves are those that have been cut (petik) in the
months of Kartika/Kapat (September/October), Kasanga/ Kadasa (Maren/
444 H.I.R. Hinzler
April) and before the full moon (purnama) (personal communication Catra
1991, 1992). Leaves that are cut in other seasons are either not yet fully
developed or too old; sometimes the surface layer of the leaves has become
speckled, making them imperfect. Such leaves cannot be used as writing
material for holy texts.
I Ketut Suwidja head of the Yayasan Gedong Kirtya (the present name
for the pre-war Lontar Foundation Kirtya Liefrinck-Van der Tuuk) distin-
guishes three types of lontar (also called rontal, ental and nta): ntal taluh
(egg-type) with fine filaments and long, broad leaves; ntal goak (crow-
type), with less fine filaments and long, broad leaves; and ntal kedis (bird-
type) with fine filaments but small leaves, and therefore not so suitable
(Suwidja 1979:4). However, what he does not mention is whether or not
these terms are used for subspecies of the Borassus or simply for the differ-
ence in sizes of leaves caused by cutting them off too early or too late in
their development.
When he was controller of the regency of Karangasem in 1939, Ch.J.
Grader made notes on the processing of lontar palm leaves used for writing
material (Grader and Hooykaas 1941:23). He mentions that the trees which
provided the best quality of leaves were concentrated in the regency of
Karangasem, particularly in the areas of Culik, Kubu and Tianyar. These vil-
lages He in the dry northern part of the regency in the foothills of Mt.
Seraya, Agung and Batur, not far from the coast. Palm trees with leaves of
an inferior quality grow in the wet area of Selat, on the uphill slopes of the
Gunung Agung, to the west of the former royal centre of Amlapura. Grader
visited Gria Pendem in 1939 in order to observe the production of writing
material. This gria, a complex of buildings inhabited by members of the
highest caste, the brahmans, is located in the town of Amlapura. His infor-
mant, Ida Bagus Somija (old spelling), originated from a family of scribes
and manufacturers of writing material. Ida Bagus Somija even showed him a
number of tools that were used by his grandfather. Grader reports that writ-
ing material is also made in Gria Pidada, which is probably located in Am-
lapura, although there are also gria by this name in Sidemen, Selat and
Klungkung. Grader also mentions a brahman family from Glumpang as pro-
ducing writing material. He does not mention whether brahmans or Balinese
from other castes were involved in the production of inferior writing mate-
rial from trees in Selat. By the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of
the twentieth century, brahmans were the most common manufacturers of
lontar palm leaves for manuscripts. However, Catra (born in 1935), a mem-
ber of the second caste, the satria dalem, told me that he learned this skill
from his father, the late Cokorda of Sidemen (personal communication Catra
1990, 1991).
Palm leaves from Culik, Kubu and Tianyar, considered best for the pro-
cessing of writing material, were bought by the manufacturers in Amlapura.
Grader says that the leaves from Gria Pendem were also processed commer-
Balinese palm-leaf manuscripts 445
cially; those from the other gria and other areas were for private use only
(Grader and Hooykaas 1941:23).
According to Ida Bagus Somija, Grader's informant, Ihe royalty of Suka-
wati, Abian Bas (in the regency of Gianyar), Badung, Tabanan, Klungkung
and Bangli ordered processed leaves for writing material 'in the days when
the kings were still ruling over Bali' (Grader and Hooykaas 1941:23). By
this he must mean the period before 1906. This implies that the royalty of
the various petty kingdoms south of Karangasem placed orders for pro-
cessed leaves and employed their own scribes to produce manuscripts. It is
striking that Grader's informant does not mention the realm of Bullng. I
Gusti Putu Djlantik was, as mentioned above, an avid collector of manu-
scripts and, as is apparent from the colophons of his manuscripts on palm
leaf and paper, he also personally wrote and commissioned many text
transcriptions. At present, the manuscripts of his collection - and copies on
paper - are kept in the Pusat Dokumentasi Kebudayaan Bali in Denpasar, in
the Yayasan Gedong Kirtya in Singaraja and in Leiden University Library.
It is probable that he also obtained leaves from the areas of Culik, Kubu
and Tianyar, but had them processed by local specialists in Singaraja (Ban-
jar Paktan, Banjar Liligundi, Bratan, Sukasada).
In the series of photographs illustrating Ginarsa's 1975 article on the
processing of lontar palm leaves, the late Ida Pedanda Made Kamenuh, a
brahman priest, is portrayed engaged in processing and inscribing these
leaves. At that time, he was living in a gria close to Djlantik's palace. At
the beginning of this century, the members of this gria served the Puri.
According to my informants from South Bali, the Tabanan and Krambitan
royalty also used leaves of moderate quality from trees in Jadi, in the moun-
tainous area of North Tabanan.
Grader remarks that, even before the subjugation of Balinese royalty, the
demand for lontar as a writing material was never great (Grader and Hooy-
kaas 1941:23). As a result, the number of specialists processing the leaves
was small. However, one has to bear in mind that leaves of the Borassus
flabellifer were also in demand by Balinese women, who used them for
their plaited offerings. Offerings made of dried, yellow lontar palm leaves
were considered more sophisticated, more exquisite than those made of the
young, green busung (coconut palm leaves). Moreover, the sap of the stalks
of the lontar palm fruit was - and still is - tapped and used for the produc-
tion of palm wine (tuak) and sugar (gula). According to Catra (information
1993), the leaves of such lontar palm trees are underdeveloped, which
means that the lontar palm did grow in areas other than the aforementioned,
but the quality may not have been good enough for processing into writing
material. Even at present, it is not difficult to obtain dried lontar palm
leaves in the village and town markets where ritual accessories are sold.
In the 1930s, the Lontar Foundation in Singaraja stimulated the process-
ing of leaves and the production of manuscripts. The idea behind the Foun-
dation was to preserve Balinese literature, to make inventories of all the
446 H.I.R. Hinder
manuscript collections in Bali and to make copies of important manuscripts
for the library of the Foundation. The proposals (Berg and Goris 1929:11)
listed the salaries of four scribes (fl. 960 per year) and the cost of leaves
and other tools (fl. 180 per year). Between December 1928 and July 1941,
the Foundation collected 2,263 lontar manuscripts, most of them newly
made. Although there was a decline in the processing of palm leaves for
writing material in the whole of Bali after 1941, it has increased again since
the beginning of the 1970s., These days processing is done mainly in the
area of Amlapura-Boda Kling-Pidpid-Sidemen and in Tenganan Pagring-
singan in the regency of Karangasem. The main impetus for the recent rise
in processing leaves is the tourist trade in small manuscripts, particularly
the illustrated manuscripts sold to travellers visiting the famous 'Law
Court', the Kreta Gosa, in the town of Klungkung and the so-called 'Bali
Aga' village of Tenganan Pagringsingan (an example is LOr 23.053, ten
illustrated leaves with scnes from the Ramayana and short texts in Bali-
nese and English). The lontar project, which drs I Wayan Waraa of the De-
partment of Education and Culture (Dinas Pendidikan Dasar) in Denpasar
started in 1982, was also involved in the revival of the processing of lontar
palm leaves. Important texts from famous private collections were copied on
palm leaf and deposited in the Office of the Deparnent in Jalan Melati in
Denpasar. In 1988, the Documentation Centre (Pusat Dokumentasi Kebuda-
yaan Bali) in Sanglah, founded in 1986, received this collection and, until
the end of 1991, continued the practice of copying important manuscripts.
The project had to be stopped due to financial problems. The leaves used
for all these copies originate from the area of Tianyar and were processed in
Amlapura by Catra (personal communication Catra 1990, 1991).
Palm leaves cannot be used as writing material in their raw state: they first
have to be processed. The processing of the leaves has two main objectives:
to end up with leaves that are dry, without sap, as such leaves last longer;
and secondly, to protect the leaves from being eaten by insecLs, particularly
termites (bubuk/klander). The Balinese terms for the processing or conser-
vation of the leaves are: mubad, masipat, mawilah (KBNWB), all of
which mean 'treated with a herbal remedy'.
The most extensive treatment is given to leaves on which important texts
are to be written, e.g. Old Javanese versions of chapters of the Mahabhara-
ta, in parcular the Adiparwa and the Bharatayuddha. For this, the best,
broadest and longest leaves are chosen. These leaves, which have the shape
of a fan and can be folded along their ribs like an accordion, are about 1.15
m long with each section about 6 to 7 cm wide at the base and 2 to 3 cm at
the tip. The leaves are first cut lengthwise in such a way that one rib with
Balinese palm-leaftnanuscripts 447
two sections of leaf remains. Then the ribs are removed, so that one ends up
with long and rather thin pieces of leaf.
For texts of lesser importance, such as notes, calendars, IOUs, letters and
village regulalions, leaves with ribs are generally used. One 'page' consists
of two sections of leaf connected along the long top edge by the rib. Such
leaves are usually just soaked in water in order to straighten Ihem, after
which they are bleached and dried in the sun. Because manuscripts made of
such leaves are often kept in the kitchen and even hung over the fireplace
where they are exposed to smoke, the 'pages' become very hard, as if they
were made of wood (see and smell LOr 22.998, Pambayon, dated 1829, or
LOr 22.999, Tutur Pawacana, and LOr 23.000, Wariga, from the same pe-
riod from Tenganan Pagringsingan). Moreover, insects do not like the
smoked leaves, so they are very durable.
Grader describes how, in the Karangasem area, the leaves without ribs are
dried (Grader and Hooykaas 1941:24). Fresh, green leaves are selected,
which are rather broad at the base (about 6 cm) and narrower at the tip
(about 2 cm), broader ones being preferable. They are then bundled with
their tips bound together, so they can be hung out and dried in the sun
(majemuh) for, according to Ginarsa (1975:92), a period of two or three
days. After they have turned yellowish, the leaves are soaked in water for
three to four days and dried again. Catra (personal communication 1992)
prefers a soaking period of a week to ten days. He puts the leaves in a plas-
tic bucket with water and covers them with a large, flat stone to prevent
them from floating. Grader (Grader and Hooykaas 1941:24) mentions yet
another process: in this method the leaves are planed (nyutsut) with the
hairy bark of the coconut. Then, when the leaves are dry, the spines are re-
moved and the smaller tips of the leaves cut off. The leaves are bound
together in small bundies and rolled up in order to be boiled (inalablab) in
a pan of water to which herbs have been added. According to Ginarsa
(1975:92), the following herbs are used in North Bali: bark of the intaran
tree (Azadirachta indica), bark of the book tree (Dracontomelon), root of
the sikapa tree (Dioscorea hispida), the bud of the coconut and the temitis
plant (Curcuma xanthorrhiza). Suwidja (1979:5) lists the following:
leaves of the liliguncli (Vitex trifolia), leaves and shoots of the Uncarica
gambir (not too many, otherwise the leaves are coloured too red) and kunyit
warangan (Curcuma longa). Van der Tuuk (KBNWB) mentions the fol-
lowing herbs as used to process lontar palm leaf: tengeh, the reddish bark
from the tingi tree (Bruguiera parviflora); bejadi, a kind of santen (co-
conut milk) from which the oil has been removed; the bark from the intaran
tree; and palapah borh, an ointment consisting of kesuna (garlic), isn
(langkwas root) or isin rong (Alpinia galanga). Moreover, he uses pala-
pah as a general term for the plants, pieces of bark, and herbs which have to
be added to the water in which the leaves are boiled in order to make them
hard and strong. There are various recipes for this herbed bath. The leaves
are rolled up and immersed in the herbed water and boiled for one night. In
448 H.I.R. Hinzler
the morning the leaves, which have now become pliant, are taken out of the
pan, washed with cold water, rubbed dry, and placed on the ground in order
to be dried and bleached in the sun. At this point, as long as they have not
been written on, the leaves are called pepesan (Karangasem); an inscribed
leaf is called lempir (KBNWB).
Ginarsa (1975:92-93) describes how to smooth out wrinkled leaves. In
the afternoon, such leaves are moistened by sprinkling water over them. The
damp leaves can then be easily smoothed out and, the next day, collected,
bundled and placed in a press (pamlagbagan Karangasem, Buleleng, otpa-
mepesan Buleleng). A wooden slat (panyelah Karangasem) is inserted be-
tween each bunch of leaves in order to distribute the pressure evenly. The
top layer of leaves is also covered by such a slat (panggal Karangasem).
Finally, two bamboo wedges (lait Karangasem; pamacekan KBNWB) are
hammered between the top slat of the press and the slat covering the top
bunch of leaves. Grader reports that the leaves are taken out of the press
briefly every ten days in order to clean and rub them, after which they are
again placed in the press. This process is continued for one or two galun-
gan periods.3
Ginarsa writes that the leaves have to be pressed for only fifteen days.
Catra (personal communication 1990, 1991) says that the quality of the
leaves as writing material depends on the length of time they have been in
the press. The longer they are pressed, the higher the proportion of plant
juices that will have disappeared. Catra prefers a period of two years of 360
days per year. When the leaves are sufficiently pliant and smooth (asah
Karangasem), they are cut to the right size. There is a special kind of cutter
(panyangkan) for this task, but a small knife can be used as well.
The next task is to make holes (song Karangasem) in the leaves. Bali-
nese lontar manuscripts made with ribbed leaves have a single hole (3 to 4
mm in diameter) on one side (the left-hand side, where the writing starts).
Leaves without ribs are provided with three holes of 3 mm in diameter, one
at either side and one - just off centre - in the middle. In order to mark the
position of the holes on the leaves, a piece of wood with three little holes
(sukat Karangasem) is used. There are various measuring sticks with three
holes for different sizes of leaves. The positions of the holes are marked on
the leaf by means of charcoal or - if available - pencil. As already men-
tioned, the hole in the 'middle' of the leaf is slightly eccentric. For a leaf of,
for instance, 45.5 cm width, the positions of the holes are usually at 2, at 22
and at 43.5 cm. This means that the distance between the central hole and
that on the right-hand side is 1.5 cm longer than that between the central
3
Galungan is celebrated once in 210 days. It takes place in the week Dungulan
of the wuku calendar. There are two galungan festivals per Gregorian year. The
first festival takes place between Fehruary and April and the second between
September and November. I have already mentioned that the periods recom-
mended for picking the leaves are March/April and Septemher/Octoher.
Balinese palm-leaf manuscripts 449
and the left-hand hole. A small instrument, the pamiretan (Karangasem),
pamiritan, cempurit (Buleleng) or pangirikan (KBNWB), is used for
punching the holes. It consists of a kind of wooden stylus ending in a
sharp pin, like one leg of a compass. A small, sharp knife, which is pressed
onto the leaf, is tied against the pin. The hole is made by turning the instru-
ment around.
Grader (Grader and Hooykaas 1941:25) describes the mass production of
small ribbed leaves (pipil) for the registration of land leases on Lombok. In
the 1930s, many thousands of these leaves had to be processed. This took
place in the yard of the Sedahan Agung (the land-tax collector) in Amlapu-
ra. For this purpose, a slicer for quickly cutting the short sides of the leaves
and a kind of chopping block for cutting the long sides were designed. The
mechanism of an old gramophone was adapted for punching the holes. Re-
een tly, I have seen people using a perforator to punch the holes. Once the
leaves have been provided with the proper holes, they are again put in a
press - this time a smaller one (pangaduhan Karangasem or pangandun
KBNWB). The top and bottom slats are sometimes provided with two, but
more often with three wooden pins that pierce the holes in the leaves. These
slats with pins are called agum (Karangasem). The leaves are pressed
tightly together by placing wedges between the agum and the pair of slats
covering the bunch of leaves. If such slats are not used, iron bands are
strung around the slats (agum) of the press. The pins punched through the
holes keep the leaves tightly together. This is necessary in order to plane
the long sides of the bunch of leaves carefully (serut Karangasem, Buleleng,
KBNWB). They are then smoothed with pumice (batu kembung Karang-
asem) and sandpaper (ampelas Karangasem) and the long sides may be
coloured - preferably red - if desired. The best and most expensive red is
made of the kincu powder which is imported from China (see LOr 22.981,
Purwagama, dated 1899, from Singaraja). Today a black or, more often, a
rather coarse glossy red varnish is used. Manuscripts from royal courts (Bu-
llng, Karangasem, Lombok) may be coloured with gold leaf or red with
scroll ornaments in gold (LOr 22.972, Kakawin Anyang Nirartha Marti,
dated 1842, and LOr 23.002, Aji Krakah, dated 1911, both from Singaraja).
There are numerous examples of such manuscripts in Leiden University Li-
brary dating from the end of the eighteenth century up to the 1930s. Final-
ly, the short sides, which are not usually coloured, are cut and smoothed
out. At this point, the leaves can be taken out of the press.
To facilitate writing, horizontal lines are drawn on the surface of the
leaves (nyipat Karangasem, ngors KBNWB). Various instruments are used
to make such lines (panyipatan Karangasem), the simplest consisting of
two pieces of wood or bamboo 7 to 10 cm long which are connected by
pieces of white thread (benang). The length of the thread varies according
to the length of the leaves. A more sophisticated tooi is made from a slat of
about 7 x 65 cm, sometimes provided with little legs. Two small pieces of
wood are mounted at the outer ends of the slat and the pieces of thread are
450 H.I.R. Hinzler
fastened with pins onto these little pieces of wood. The manuscript usually
contains four lines of a text in one language (Old Javanese or Balinese). If
it is a manuscript in Old Javanese with a Balinese translation, there are usu-
ally only three lines, and these are at a relatively great distance from each
other. The original text in Old Javanese is written under the second line and
the translations or paraphrases in Balinese are written under the first and the
third lines (see LOr 22.972). Texts on medicine and magie may also have
three lines per leaf (see LOr 22.978, Usada; LOr 22.989, Panglakan).
Only in very rare cases does one encounter manuscripts with five lines per
leaf (LOr 3675:1, Geguritan Jayngpatra).
The lengths of thread are dyed with a mixture of ink (mangsi) and leaf
sap. Sap of the leaves of the delungdung (a kind of Erithrina) is preferred
in Karangasem but one can also use sap of minced leaves of the kayu sugih
(KBNWB). The freshly dyed threads are pressed against the palm leaf so
that bluish or greenish lines become visible. Later, when the leaves are in-
scribed (the letters are incised under the lines), the lines can easily be re-
moved by rubbing with a piece of wet cotton. Nowadays, wooden and plas-
tic rulers are used and the lines are drawn with pencil. Sometimes a leaf is
provided with vertical lines at the outer ends, which serve as margins and
always fall inside the outer holes of the manuscript. There is also a margin
on either side of the central hole. These vertical lines may be drawn with
plant sap or may be incised, and there is room in the margins tbr notes to be
engraved or written in ink (mangsi).
6. Manuscripts
o > i
- vs> _ 0. 0 0) !
>
i
i
Fig. 1. Lontar palm leaf, embat-embatan type.
Balinese palm-leaf manuscripts 453
bharata and Ramayana), aparwa (prose translation of the Indian Afaha-
bharata) or apurana (commentary on the Indian Mahabharata).4
Didactic texts (sasana), texts on medicine (usada), texts on horoscopes
and calendars (wariga), poems in Balinese (parikan, geguritan), genealo-
gies (babad, silsilah) and incantations (mantra) are written on smaller
leaves, usually 25 to 39 cm long. The width varies, usually 3 to 3.7 cm.5
Texts on magie, particularly black magie (kaputusan, kawissan), are 11
to 25 cm long and 2.8 to 3 cm wide.6
Manuscripts with drawings form a separate group, which can be divided
into three types: one with a series of drawings separated by vertical bars
and provided with stanzas from a poem or Unes from a prose text; one with
only drawings; and one with texts interspersed with one or two drawings.
Manuscripts of the first two types are rare; they are 45 to 65 cm long and
4.2 to 4.5 cm wide.7 Manuscripts with drawings belonging to the third type
contain texts on magie. These very common manuscripts are usually 25 cm
long and 3.5 cm wide.
Manuscripts on ribbed leaves are longer - up to 85 cm - and the leaves
in a single manuscript may vary in length and width. The text usually starts
on the broadest side of the leaf, which is approximately 6.5 cm wide, while
the right-hand side is only about 3.5 cm wide. Calendars, which use a great
deal of space, are to be found on the larger leaves, up to 85 cm long." Parts
of kakawin with interlinear translations in Balinese, kidung and village reg-
ulations, regulations on dams, cockfights, etc, may also be written on large
leaves, varying from 50 to 76 cm long.' Poems in Balinese are often written
on ribbed leaves of a smaller size, 30 to 40 cm long."1 Letters, even those
from a nobleman, are on smaller sized ribbed leaves 16 to 20 cm long. An
example is a letter, 18.8 x 4.1 cm, from I Gusti Ngurah Kesiman and I Gusti
Ngurah Pamecutan, members of the royal houses of Kesiman and Pamecutan
in Denpasar, to Pan Marasana (LOr 3061.1). Still smaller leaves are used
4
For instance Kidung Malat (LOr 2280) is 58.5 x 4 cm, Kakawin Siwaratrikal-
pa (LOr 3745) is 56.5 x 3.5 cm, Kakawin Sutasoma (LOr 3716) is 51.5 x 4 cm,
Kakawin Bhomantaka Marti (LOr 3659) is 47.5 x 3.5 cm, Wirataparwa (LOr
3133) is 49 x 4.5 cm, Anggastyaparwa (LOr 3711) is 54 x 3.5 cm, Brahmanda-
purana (LOr 3730) is 53 x 4 cm.
5
Examples are: Usada (LOr 5161), 28 x 3 cm. Wariga (LOr 3672(2), 26.7 x
3.6 cm, Geguritan Luh Raras (LOr 3687), 25.5 x 3.7 cm, Babad Kaon Sibetan,
45 x 3.5 cm, Astramantra (LOr 5163), 34.5 x 3.5 cm.
6
Examples are: Alis-alis ijo (LOr 3636), which is 25 x 3.5 cm, and Tunjung
Putih (LOr 3776), which is 16.5 x 3 cm.
7
Examples of type 1 are: Kakawin Arjunawiwaha (LOr 22.750), 42.5 x 4.5 cm,
Adiparwa (LOr 22.759), 44 x 4.2 cm. An example of type 2 is Dampati Lela-
ngon (Pleyte 1912), 40.5 x 4 cm.
8
For instance LOr 22.746, LOr 22.747 and LOr 22.748 with a length of 85 cm.
9
For example Kakawin Ramayana Marti (LOr3747), 76 x 3.5 cm, Kidung Un-
dakan Pangrus (LOr 3753), 71 x 3.5 cm, Awig-awii; Tetajn (LOr 3740),
50/50.4 x 3.4/4.7 cm.
10
Examples are: Geguritan Nyalig (LOr 3658), 30.2/30.5 x 3.5/3.6 cm, Gegu-
ritan Limbur (LOr 3661), 36.9/40 x 3.3/4 cm.
Fig. 2. Lontar palm leaf, lempiran type, with four writing lines and Balinese script.
Balinese palm-leafmanuscripts 455
for notes, captions of texts, and cards with names to be used at the celebra-
tion of a baby's third month (LOr 3061.3). A note on the cost of paint may
be as small as 9.3 x 2.5 cm. Young girls used to write love poems or mes-
sages for meetings on small pieces of ribbed palm leaf 2 to 2.5 cm wide and
10 cm long that are rolled and worn in the earlobe. They would leave them
behind in the pleasure garden for their (secret) lovers.
There seems to be a close relationship between the size of the leaf and
the character of the text that is written on it. The general rule for manu-
scripts written on leaves both with and without ribs is: the longer the leaf,
the higher the status of the text and the greater the likelihood that the
language will be Old Javanese. Large palm leaves are rare; such rare leaves,
in particular those without ribs, are only used for the most revered texts and
for texts ordered by members of the highest royalty.
In the list of manuscripts in the above-mentioned Edict No. 10, there is
remarkable agreement between the size and quality (both ribbed and not
ribbed) of the manuscripts and the order of the texts. This makes it all the
more plausible that the size of leaves used for a manuscript is determined by
the hierarchical status of the text. It is not surprising that the hierarchical
status of the texts and manuscripts on ribbed leaves, which are easier to
process and thus cheaper and more readily available, is lower than manu-
scripts of writing material requiring more elaborate processing (non-ribbed
leaves).
9. Storage of manuscripts
The specific term for the storage of manuscripts is sepel (KBNWB). A man-
uscript that has been stored for a long time and not been read or publicly
displayed during a ceremony - for example, the name day of Saraswati or a
clan temple festival - is called buuk di pasepelan (worn because it has not
been taken out for a long time). It is dusty and damaged, which indicates
that the owner has not taken proper care of it. A collection of lontar manu-
scripts is often stored in a large, rectangular basket {sok) or box, and several
of these containers are sometimes stored in a kind of loft (tutumbu, lang-
gatan KBNWB) made in an open pavilion (bal) or a sleeping house (u-
mah meten). Cloth bags holding manuscripts are usually provided with a
wooden hook and are attached to, or hung up on, the plaited bamboo ceiling
(bedg) of the pavilion. In palaces where the royalty had close connections
with Europeans, manuscript owners had copies made of wooden European
chests (lemari) in which to store their lontar collection. The manuscripts of
I Gusti Putu Djlantik from Puri Gobraja in Singaraja were preserved in this
manner.
To date, the oldest known text on palm leaf from Bali that is in Europe is
thought to be in Oxford, England. It is a leaf with three lines of script, in
the Laud Collection in the Bodleian Library (manuscript Laud Or. Rolls
a.1), and it dates from before 1635, when it was donated to the Library by
William Laud (1573-1645). However, unon close examination of the script
and the text, it is clear to me that neither the script nor the text are Balinese.
The script indicates Madura and the language is half Malay and half
Madurese.
Balinese palm-leaf manuscripts 459
There is a manuscript in Leiden with a prose version of the Calon Arang
(LOr 5279) which has a colophon dated 1462 Saka, (AD 1570). There are
also two early seventeenth-century manuscripts ascribed to Dang Hyang
Nirartha in a gria in Karangasem and I have seen a Tutur Angkusprana by
Mpu Siwamurti with a colophon dated 1537 Saka (AD 1615) in North
Bali. The exact locations of these manuscripts cannot be mentioned here, as
the owners fear that their manuscripts, which they regard as sacred heir-
looms, will be confiscated and taken to the National Library in Jakarta. As
yet, no research has been done to indicate whether or not the manuscripts
with sixteenth- and seventeenth-century colophons really date from these
periods. One must always take into account that one may be dealing with an
eighteenth- or nineteenth-century copy of an older manuscript and that the
older colophon was copied too. However, I have noticed that when a scribe
makes a copy of a manuscript these days, he adds a new colophon of nis
own and does not copy the older one. According to Catra (personal com-
munication 1991) this is the customary practice, at least among scribes in
the regency of Karangasem. The majority of the 'old' manuscripts now in
private and library collections in Bali and abroad date from the early nine-
teenth century.
The script used both in Bali and in Java originates from a South Indian
script and is a semi-syllabic (aksara) script. Each syllable consists of a
combination of a consonant and the vowel a, but other vowels can be repre-
sented by writing signs above, below, or beside these syllables, while clus-
ters of consonants can be represented by hanging (gantung) or sticking
(gmpl) syllables together. In Balinese literature and theatre, especially the
wayang puppet theatre, use is made of two alphabets and two orders of enu-
merating consonants and vowels. These alphabets are used for writing
Sanskrit (in the Indian Nagari script) and Old Javanese.
In Bali, script - in particular Indian script - and the alphabet are sacred.
Writing was given to humans by God. By learning the alphabet and reciting
it in the proper order, people can help keep the cosmos and cosmic pro-
cesses stable. This is expressed in the opening recitation of the North Bali-
nese puppet player (dalang) before he begins to perform (see Sugriwa 1963
and also Ginarsa 1975). The dalang first stresses that the performance is
based on the holy Sanskrit texts Mahabharata or Ramayana, which have
become known by writing the texts with ink on leaves of the gehang. He
then enumerates the combinations of ten, five, triree and two holy syllables
and the all-encompassing syllable ong. He continues with the short and
long vowels (a, i, u, e, o, au), and the consonants (ka, kha, ga, gha, nga,
etc.). This is the order of the Indian alphabets.
The Old Javanese and Balinese alphabet and the order of the syllables
are stressed in the Balinese sasana literature ('rules'), in particular in the
putra sasana ('rules for children'). Here, a father usually has a conversation
with his son, explaining the ideal life. 'You have to take care that you be-
come a real human being. This is only possible if you study. You have to
study the holy literature (sastra). You have to study in order to know your
Balinese palm-leaf manuscript s 461
inner self and to make your parents happy. If you do not study and do not
know the holy literature, your parents are blamed. They do not receive a
place in heaven after their death, but are punished in heil.' The Kidung Ana-
caraka (LOr 3609.1) is an example of such a text. Anacaraka means alpha-
bet and the term contains the first five letters of the Balinese alphabet: ha,
na, ca, ra, ka. A brahman father tells his son: 'Study the alphabet continu-
ally, only then can you become a real human being. Concentrate on the
letters of the alphabet. Don't be afraid, for Saraswati, the goddess of wis-
dom, will seat herself on your tongue and enter your mind. Don't be afraid,
study every day, study the holy literature. The best texts are from ancient
Java and are written by famous authors. Copy these texts, learn how to
write and spell. But, when doing this, you have to pronounce the words and
the letters aloud one by one. If you make a writing error, you have to elimi-
nate (pati, to kill, by writing the i-kara (i) above and the suku (u) under-
neath) the wrong letter and write it anew. You are not allowed to make mis-
takes. Moreover, when the communication between your mind and your
hands is in order, you cannot make writing errors.'
The main implement used for writing is a rather large, coarse iron knife,
the pangutik or pangrupak (KBNWB, Buleleng, Karangasem). It consists
of a flat piece of iron, about 15 cm long and 2 cm wide, with one end slant-
ing and sharpened. The other end is provided with a curly ornament (North
Bali), but in Karangasem a figure in wayang style is often cast at the top -
King Kresna or Twaln, the fat servant of the 'good side' in a theatre and
puppet play. A wooden grip may be attached to a knife with a plain end,
and it may have a figure representing Twaln - or another suitable person,
such as Saraswati, the goddess of wisdom - carved on it. A shcath of plait-
ed bamboo is often used to protect the sharp end of the knife. See Fig. 3.
The knife is held between the thumbs and index fingers of both hands -
or between the right and left thumbs and the right index finger of the scribe
- and pressed against the surface of the palm leaf. This surface consists of
almost invisible horizontal ribs. If the knife is 'caught' in such a rib, there
is a chance that it may slip and then the horizontal stroke of the letter
would become too large. In order to prevent this, the scribe has to make the
strokes of the letters as vertical or as round as possible.
According to Suwidja (1979:4) who, as mentioned above, differentiates
three types of lontar palm leaf, the surface layers of ntal taluh (egg-type)
and ntal kedis (bird-type) are so fine that the knife need not be pressed
upon the leaves with force and the scratching hardly makes any noise at all.
However, if ntal goak (crow-type) is used, the knife has to be pressed hard
and writing makes a rather loud scraping noise.
The scribe needs both hands to write. He takes a bundie of four to five
leaves, which are held together at the ends by means of rings made of plait-
ed bamboo or cow's horn, and holds it between the middle and ring fingers
of both hands, while holding the knife with his thumbs and index fingers.
A knife that has become blunt is called suntik (KBNWB).
462 H.I.R. Hinzler
Balinese has an extensive terminology for writing and script (see the
Appendix). There are many lechnical terms for writing in general, special
terms for bad handwriting that causes illegible texts, as well as terms for
corrections. This is further evidence of how important proper writing is for
the Balinese.
The script in old (eighteenth century and early nineteenth century) man-
uscripts is often small (2 mm high) and upright. In more recent manuscripts
(since the 1920s), the script is also upright, but larger (3 mm high) and
Fig. 3. Inscrihing the palm leaf (after W.O.J. Nieuwenkamp 1910:108); two
iron knives (pangutik, pangrupak), one with a sheath of plaited bamboo.
14. Spelling
Until the end of the nineteenth century, there were no textbooks with pre-
cise rules for spelling {uger-uger). The author of the first Balinese printed
book on spelling was I Ranta (1874) and the book was printed in Batavia
in Javanese characters, because Balinese type did not yet exist. I Ranta was
educated at the Teachers' College in Bandung. The first printed textbook
for Balinese characters and their transliteration in Latin script was by a
Javanese schoolteacher in Singaraja (North Bali), Mas Niti Sastro, and I
Gusti Putu Djlantik. It was printed in Balinese type in 1911.
These printed spelling rules reflect rules that had always been orally
transmitted. The correct spelling used in kakawin in Old Javanese is of
great importance. For example, two rules valid for pmse texts and poems of
the kidung and geguritan genres cannot be used in kakawin. The first rule
is matengenan majalan: if the final consonant of one word is the same as
the first consonant of the next word, the consonant need only be written
once. The second rule is: skipping the r when it is followed by ya, ka, ta,
but writing doubl yya, kka, tta instead. It is beyond the scope of this arti-
cle to deal with the various spelling rules in greater detail.
75. Corrections
There are many terms for crossing out syllables, and for correcting and re-
placing syllables or words that are wrongly spelled or omitted. There are
four methods commonly used for making corrections. The most frequently
used method is to write a small cross at the top of the syllable or passage
and then add the omitted characters at the top or bottom of the writing line
or in the margin. For more extensive corrections, part of the surface layer is
cut out and the corrected word or term is written on the layer beneath. The
third method, which is considered inferior, is to simply cross out the sylla-
ble or word in question (personal communication Catra, 1990, 1991). The
fourth method, described above, is to write the i-kara on top and the suku
undemeath the wrong syllable or syllables.
17. Scribes
ABBREVIATIONS
REFERENCES
Manuscripts
Bakker, F.L., 1993, The struggle of the Hindu Balinese intellectuals. Amster-
dam: VU University Press.
Berg, C C , 1927, Kidung Pamancangah. Santpoort: Mees.
-, and R. Goris, 1929, 'Rapport van 10 November 1928.' Meiledeelingen Kirtya
Liefrinck-Van der Tuuk 1:4-11.
Cox, J., 1931, Monografie Bali en Lombok. [Unpublished typewritten report
dated 1931].
Geertz, C , 1964, 'Tihingan. A Balinese village.' Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land-
en Volkenkunde 120:1-33.
Ginarsa, I Ketut, 1975, 'The lontar (palmyra) palm.' Review of Indonesian and
Malaysian Affairs 9:90-103.
Grader, Ch.J., and C. Hooykaas, 1941, 'Lontar als schrijfmateriaal.' Mededeelin-
gen Kirtya Liefrinck-Van der Tuuk 13:23-28.
Hinzler, H.I.R., 1986, 'The Usana Bali as a source of Balinese history.' In: Taufik
Abdullah (ed.), Papers of the 4th Indonesian-Dutch History Conference,
Yogyakarta 24-29 July 1983. Vol. 2 Literature and history (Yogyakarta: Ga-
djah Mada University Press), pp.124-165.
Hooykaas, C , 1942, 'Dampati lalangon, Balisch gedicht van West-Lombok.'
Tijdschrift van het Koninklijk Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en
Wetenschappen 82:1-61.
- , 1968, Bagus Umbara prince of Koripan. London: British Museum.
Kadjeng, I Nyoman, 1929, 'Voorloopig overzicht der op Bali aanwezige
literatuurschat.' Mededeelingen Kirtya Liefrinck-Van der Tuuk 1:19-40.
Liefrinck, F.A., 1915, De landsverordeningen der Balische vorsten van Lom-
bok I. 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff.
468 H.I.R. Hinzler
Mas Niti Sastro and I Goesti Poetoe Dj'lantik, 1910, Balineesche schrijftaal.
Batavia: Landsdrukkerij.
Nieuwenkamp, W.O.J., 1910, Bali and Lombok. Vol. II. Edam: Zwerver Uitgave.
Palguna, Ida Bagus Made Dharma, 1993, Kakawin Dbarma Sunya. Suntingan
naskab dan telaah samkhya yoga. [Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of
Leiden, Department of Languages and Cultures of Southeast Asia and
Oceania].
Pleyte, C.M., 1912, Darmo Lelangon. A royal song without words from the isle
of Lombok. Batavia: Kolff.
Poerbatjaraka, 1926, 'De Calon Arang.' Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Vol-
kenkunde 182:109-180.
Ranta, I, 1874, Balisch spelboekje. Batavia: Landsdrukkerij.
Stein Callenfels, P.V. van, 1925, 'De Mintaraga-basrelifs aan de Oud-Javaan-
sche bouwwerken.' Publicaties Oudheidkundigen Dienst van Nederlandsch-
Indi 1:36-53, pis 36-60.
Sugriwa, I Gusti Bagus, 1963, Ilmu pedalangan/pewajangan. Denpasar: Pusta-
ka Bali Mas.
Suwidja, I Ketut, 1979, Mengenal prasi. Singaraja: Gedong Kirtya.
Tinggen, I Nengah, 1982, Aneka sari. Singaraja: [n.n.].
Tuuk, H.N. van der, 1897-1912, Kawi-Balineesch-Nederlandsch woordenboek.
Batavia: Landsdrukkerij. 4 vols.
Warna (Ketua Team Penyusun), I Wayan, et al., 1991, Kamus Bali-Indonesia.
Denpasar: Dinas Pendidikan Dasar Propinsi Dati I Bali.
Zoetmulder, P.J., with the collaboration of S.O. Robson, 1982, Old Javanese-
English dictionary. 's-Gravenhage: Nijhoff.
APPENDIX
The following terms are mainly based on Van der Tuuk's dictionary. Those that
also occur in the latest, enlarged edition of the Kamus Bali-Indonesia (Warna et
al. 1991) are marked by an asterisk. It appears that the majority of the terms do
not occur in this dictonary. Even when we take into account that Van der Tuuk
was particularly interested in writing materials, and therefore has put particular
emphasis on terms related to this subject, and even when we assume that the
Kamus Bali-Indonesia is not comprehensive, this is a clear sign that the pro-
cessing of palm leaves for writing material and the reading of texts on palm
leaves is on the decline.