Ngaju Religion The Conception of God among a South Borneo People

I. Introduction.- 1. The Ngaju people.- 2. The significance of the conception of God.- II. Sources for the Knowledge of the Ngaju Conception of God.- 1. Sacred literature.- 2. Religious drawings.- III. Names of the Supreme Deities.- 1. The Deity of the Upperworld.- 2. The Deity of the Underworld or the primeval waiters.- IV. The Dwelling Places of the Supreme Deities.- 1. The habitation of Mahatala.- 2. The habitation of Jata.- V. Natures and Manifestations of the Supreme Deities.- 1. Duality and unity.- 2. Manifestations of the deities.- 3. Sacred colours and numbers.- 4. Emblems and goods of the supreme deities.- VI. The Act of Divine Creation.- VII. The Divine Order.- 1. The sacred people.- 2. The sacred land.- 3. The sacred house.- 4. The sacred life.- 5. The sacred era.- VIII. The Divine Justice.- 1. Consequences of transgressing the hadat.- 2. Restoration of order.- IX. Divine Gifts.- 1. Beneficent gifts.- 2. Maleficent gifts.- X. The Sacred Service.- 1. Cosmic disaster.- 2. The renewal of the world and its well-being.- XI. The Sacred Dead.- 1. Good and bad dead.- 2. Modes of existence of the dead.- 3. Worship of the dead.- 4. The relation of the sacred dead to the supreme deities.- XII. The Essence of Da Yak Religion.- 1. The deities.- 2. Upperworld and Underworld.- 3. The creation.- 4. The sacred dead.- 5. Conclusions.- Appendix I: Creation Myth of the Ngaju.- Appendix II: The Myth of Silai.- Plates III to XXVI and Map (at back).