NOTE ON THE WORD KRAMAT
The following is an extract from a letter by the author which was received too
late for insertion in the text of the book:—
“I think that the best translation for kramat, in the case of beasts, etc., is ‘sacred.’
I have been going into the kramat question, and it appears to me that kramat
animals, trees, and other objects occupy the same place in Malay popular
religion as is occupied by Totems in the popular religion of other countries.
“I do not wish to be understood (before going more deeply still into the matter)
that they are totems, but that they possess, generally speaking, the same
characteristics. They are the bodily tenements or receptacles containing the souls
of the departed ancestors of the village. Incense is burnt and prayers are offered
to them (e.g. in the case of the sacred elephant), and the mere fact of meeting
them when one is engaged in a difficult enterprise is believed to insure success.
On the other hand, to kill or wound them is to court disaster.”
To the above I may add that kramat (which is a word of Arabic derivation)
properly appears to mean “sanctity,” but is in Malay generally used adjectively,
being applied to men, animals, plants, stones, etc. When the word stands alone it
almost invariably means a holy place, the word tĕmpat being presumably
understood. When applied to a person it implies special sanctity and miraculous
power. I remember, in 1895, hearing of a little girl, living with her parents at
Sungei Baru in the Alor Gajah district of Malacca, who was reputed to be
kramat. People used to travel considerable distances in order to visit her, and
thereby gain some benefit or other. I was informed that the modus operandi was
to swallow a small quantity of her saliva in a cup of water, but I never verified
this statement. These pilgrimages were rather disapproved of by the local Kathi,
who was my informant.