Note 6 — Chapter III · Relations with the Supernatural World

Cp. Mr. G. C. Bellamy in Selangor Journal, vol. ii. No. 6, p. 90, who says: “The word kramat, as applied to a man or woman, may be roughly translated prophet or magician. It is difficult to convey the real idea, as Malays call a man kramat who is able to get whatever he wishes for, who is able to foretell events, and whose presence brings good fortune to all his surroundings. District officers will be proud to know that in this last sense the word is occasionally applied to them. When the name kramat is applied to a place, I understand it to mean a holy place, a place of pilgrimage; but it does not necessarily mean a grave, as many people think. I can quote the kramat at Batu Ampar, Jugra, and numerous places on river banks where no graves exist, but yet they are called kramats.” [There is, however, a tradition that a saint’s leg was buried at Batu Hampar!—W. S.] ↑