308 NOTES AND QUERIES. 



" deities of the Malay in the pre -Mohammedan epoch. These 

 ''the Pawang should invoke by name as follows: 



" ' Toh Mentala Guru ! 



" ' Sarajah (? Si Raja) Guru ! 



" ' Gempitar A'lam ! 



" ' Sarajah (? Si Raja) Malek !' 



" All that I can find out about Toh Mentala (here called Toh 

 " Petala Guru) is that he was the all-powerful Spirit who took 

 " the place of Allah before the advent of Mohammedanism ; a 

 " spirit so powerful that he could restore the dead to life and to 

 " whom all prayers were addressd. This name is said to be still 



"preserved among the g-eniune Orang" Laut The old 



" customs are fast dying out, and very few Malays I have met 

 " now know the names of the four deities (or demons) given 

 " above." 



A note is appended to the word : "Toh Mentala guru:" 

 " These four titles are said to refer to four different deities but 

 " I see no reason why the next two should not be merely epi- 

 '•' thets of Toh Mentala." 



" Batara Guru," or " Sang-yang Guru " is the name by 

 which Siva is known to his worshippers who constitute the vast 

 majority of the P)alinese, and who probably constituted the bulk 

 of the old Javanese. About his identity with the " Petera Gu- 

 ru " of the Mayong invocation, and with the " Petala Guru " or 

 " Mentala Guru " of the Pawang's appeal, there can be very 

 little doubt. I would suggest the following version of the 

 latter : 



"To' Batara Guru J 



" Sang-raja Guru ! 



" Gempitar alam ! 



" Sang-raja malik! 

 The four lines refer to the same deity ; " Malik " being merely 

 the Arabic for " King " and not a proper name. 



Malay theatrical performances and dances owe so much to 

 Javanese influence that it would be dangerous to infer from a 

 Mayong invocation that Batara Guru was necessarily known to 

 the pre-Mohammedan Malays. Nevertheless it is possible enough 



