Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XIX. Allahabad—Sacred Places—Kumbh Mela—Pilgrimages—Bathing in the Ganges—Fakirs and Penitents—Sacred Rites—Superstitions
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
CHAPTER XIX.
Allahabad—Sacred Places—Kumbh Mela — Pilgrimages — Bathing in the
Ganges — Fakirs and Penitents—Sacred Rites — Superstitions.
Allahabad means the dwelling of God, and the Hindoos
regard it as one of the most sacred places of India. It is a
city of one hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, and has
a strong fortress with an English garrison. It is the seat of
the government of the north-western provinces, and is
situated on a point of land between the rivers Ganges and
Jumna, on the great Indian railroad, about five hundred
and sixty-five miles from Calcutta, and about the same
distance from the Bay of Persia.
In a tropical climate where rain seldom falls during nine
months of the year, it is quite natural that the people
regard streams and rivers as their greatest benefactors,
and by means of the vivid imagination of the South this
sentiment has occasionally been developed into religious
worship and idolatry. In this manner the great Ganges,
which flows nearly through the entire length of India, has,
since time immemorial, been regarded as sacred, as have
also all places where three rivers meet. At Allahabad the
Jumna meets the sacred Ganges, thus affording two of the
necessary conditions to make the place sacred, and it was
easy for the fertile imagination of the Brahmins to create
the third, which is said to consist in a spiritual current from
above, pouring down continually at the point where the
13 193
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
