Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - XX. Benares, the Holy City of the Hindoos—Its Temples and Worshipers—The Sacred Monkeys
<< 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.
206,
Story of an Emigrant.
nated against them they will soon become the ruling element
in Benares. And so assiduously is this temple visited by
well-to-do and generous worshipers that both the
Brahmins and the monkeys live in affluence and luxury.
Incredible as it mav seem, I have myself seen one crowd of people
after another enter this temple and prostrate themselves in
worshiping the living monkeys as well as the ape-faced stone
image, and then return home rejoicing because the Brahmins
have assured them that their worship and offerinsg have
opened for them the gates of heaven.
In some temples domestic animals are sacrificed by the
servants of the priests, the blood and the meat being distributed
among the priests, the intestines and other offal among the
poor. In others, butter, oils, sweetmeats and rice are
offered bv first giving the idols a taste in the same manner
as our children feed their dolls, whereupon the rest is
consumed by the priests and the people. In several temples are
Fakirs or saints sitting in unnatural positions with lean
limbs and vacant looks, and these are also objects of the
worship and offerings of the people. In other temples are
even lewd women, who, by their dancing and singing, act as
mediators between the people and their angry gods.
As far as these descriptions go, they may be applied to all
temples and ceremonies, and the chief and absolute
universal feature is the question of money and other offerings to
the Brahmins. All the temples are surrounded with beggars
who are as importunate as the Brahmins themselves, and
the whole of it makes the European wish to get away from
the sacred places of the Orient as soon as possible.
Man Moclir, is the name of a remarkable astronomical
observatory which towers above the temples on the Ganges,
close to the place where the dead bodies arc cremated. It
was built two hundred years ago by the emperor, Jai Sing,
and ^till remains in well-preserved condition as an evidence
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
