ABSTRACT
Chapter 3 focuses on the village būta shrine, the largest religious institution in Perar. Describing the religious duties of the 16 manor houses or guttus, and of the priests and dancer/spirit mediums at the shrine, I clarify the relevant details of the customary laws and systems that form the basis for būta worship in the village. Būta worship in Perar is based on a hierarchical system, authorised by customary law, that consists of the 16 guttus, the priests, and other ritual workers. The guttu families and other ritual workers enjoy various rights in return for their contribution to the būta shrine. The rights and duties (adikāra) of the people concerning būta worship are distributed to them through ritual transactions with the būtas. Here, it is noteworthy that the rights and duties are never given to the devotees automatically, but rather have to be repeatedly re-approved by the deities. Although customary law dictates that each family should execute its adikāra, there remains an essential uncertainty, since whether families can really assume their adikāra or not depends on the approval of the būtas within the ritual. In this sense, būta śakti, which is fundamentally contingent and uncontrollable, is superior to the mundane power of the guttus.
