Dayu

Dayu (Dahyu) is a Balinese mask of a Brahmana, a female of the highest Hindu caste. The Balinese Hindu social system is divided into a loose hierarchy of four castes. The highest is called the Brahmin caste who are the descendants of the Balinese priesthood and their names are proceeded by Ida Bagus for males and Ida Ayu or Dayu for females. A Dahyu dance mask can also be used for different dance or drama roles including forRaja Putri the noble wife/queen of a Balinese king (dalem), a wife of a court official or prime minister (patih) and Sita the wife of Rama, the heroine and hero of the anient Hindu epic the Ramayana. The stories and roles would have been taken from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata or Babad Dalem, the chronicles of Balinese kings.