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Beh imteh
THE MEMORY OF MY UNCL E
S IR EDWARD CHARLES BUCK
xt. , LL.D. ,
wh o d evoted h is li fe for th e bene fit ofothers and especially forthat
of th e people of India .
PR E FA CE .
IN th is little volum e I h ave attempted to
bring toge th er th e le ading fe ature s of th e
principal Indian re ligions, to describe some of
th e ch i efceremoni es and fe st ivals, and , in th e
last ch ap ter, to give a few note s on th e
managem ent ofa large re ligious fa ir.
I do not profess to h ave writt en much
wh i ch is original, and th is little book may
be regarde d as a simple summary composed
from th e works ofmany le arned auth ors.
I trust th at my effort will provide a useful
work of reference and enable som e of my
fellow-countrym en ,wh o h ave not t ime or
inclinat ion to study wh at is regarded , by
many p erh aps, as a dry and complex subj ect ,
to gain a sligh t ide a of th e re ligious views
h eld by m illions ofBrit ish subj ects in India
and thus to sympath ize with and compreh end
th em be tt er.
I
C. H. B .
CONTENTS .
CHAPTER. PAGE .
I .—I ntrodnotz
'
on Origin of th e various re ligions of
IndiaI I .—B elz
'
efs of th e Aboriginals and of th e AryansTIL—Th e S acred B ooks of th e Hi ndus. Th e Vedas,
Brahm anas, Upanishads, and Aryanakas.
Th e D arsanas and Puranas. Th e HinduTrini ty. Th e Incarnations
'
of Vishnu .
Th e TantrasIV.—B rahmans, Caste and the Dharm S hastras.
Origin of Caste . Th e four ma in castes. Th e
Code s of L aw . Purificatory rites. Th e Choti
or lock of hair. Th e Jannu or sacred cord .
Th e sacred word Om .
!Stages of a Brah
m an’
s li fe . Pri ests of to-day . Hindu Wom en
and PardahV.—Th e Epi c Poems. Th e Solar and Lunar D ynasti es. Th e Ramayana . Th e Mahabharata
VL—Hz'
ndu D omesti c Ceremoni es. Childhood .
Marriage . Curious customs. L egend of
th e Nerbudda R iver. D e ath ceremoni es.
Sutte eVIL—Hz
'
ndu Gods of to-day. Khuda . Th e Trini tv .
Brahma. Brahma and Sarasvati . Vishnuand L akshm i . S iva and Kali or D urga .
Ganesha . Skanda and Yama . Sraddh a. or
ceremony in honour of dece ased ancestors.
K ama ,t h e Hindu Cupid . Prithv i , Jawala
mukhi , S eudu B ir, AnarSingh, and Guga sheds.
Amm an . Hanuman. Varuna . KhwajaKhi zr, th e god of water. Gungotri . Wor
shi p of stones, e tc . Th e Sacred Cow. Snake
gods. S itala and th e goddesses of dise ase .
Bhum ia , god of th e hom e stead . Th e MysticHand and other signs. L ist of gods
viii CONTENTS .
CHAPTER . PAGE .
VII I .—Hi ndu Festiva ls. Th e Hindu Calendar. Nam e s
ofth e se asons, months, and pri ncipalFestivals.
D ays of t h e we e k. Th e Festivals from Magh(January-Fe bruary) to Asarh (June -July)
IX .—H indn Festi vals (continued ). Th e Festi vals
from Sawan (July-August) to Poh (D ecemberJanuary)
X .-Hi ndn Fa irs. Pi lgrimages. Hardwar. Nathdwara . B enares. Th e Magh-Mela . Kuru
ksh e tra . Th e S un Eclipse Me la . Th e Cave
of Amar,Nath. Th e Shrine of Mahadeo .
Human Sacrifice . Th e Ra ining Eye at
Katas. Th e Car Festival of Jagganath. Th e
L egend of J agganath. Ragganath and th e
gods of KuluXI . Hindu S eats and S oci e ti es. Sadhus. Th e Ti lak
or Caste Mark. Tax on t h e .people . Va ishnavas. S a ivas. Saktas. M isce llaneous sects.
Hind '
u Soc i eti es. Th e Brahm a S ama j . Th e
Arya Sama j . S ah atana D harma and Hindure ligious rev ival. Th e D e v Sama j . Th e
Modern HinduXI I .—B uddh ism .
—Th e Foundation ofB uddh i sm . L i feofGautama . Spre ad and decline of B uddhi smin India . Asoka and K anish ka . Th e B a d
dh ist S crip tures. .Modern B uddh ism . B ur
m ese monasteri es and pagodas. Sup erst i
t ions. Obse qu ies of a monk . Th e Tibe tanlamas and B uddhism in Spiti . B uzh ans.
Th e myst ic colours
XI I I . J aini sm . B e li e f of t h e Ja ins. Th e 24 Jinas or
Tirthankaras. Th e D igambara and Sve tam
bara sects ofmonks. Th e Yat is and Sravakas.
Th e n ine Truths. Rules for laym en . Placesof pi lgrimage . Th e Ja in Scriptures
XIV. S i kh ism . Meaning of S ikh. Ja ide v , Rama
nand , K abir,and Nanak. Th e Ten Gurus.
Th e Golden Temple at Amri tsar. Th e Five
S igns. K handa ka Pahnl. Th e rite of ini tia
ti on . Th e Akalis. Re lapse to Hinduism .
S ects. Th e Sacre d Books
CONTENTS . ix
CHAPTER. PAGE .
XV.—I slam. Th e Qalima . Th e five Observances
re quire d of a Muslim” L i fe of Muhammad .
Factions a fter h is death . Introduction of
Islam into IndiaXVI .
- Th e Qoran and i ts D octrines. B e li e f as to i ts
re ve lation. Fa i th and Practice . Prophets.
Heaven and He ll. Women and th e Pardahsystem . Marriage and divorce. Moneylending. Prayer. Th e Call to Prayers.
D eath ceremoni es
XVI I . Muslim Festivals and Fasts. Th e MuhammadanEra . Nam es of Months.
‘
Th e Muharram .
Th e Fast of Ram a zan . Th e I ds. T h e Hadj .Th e sacre d we ll Zamzam and th e B lack Stonea t Mecca. Friday prayers
XVI I I .—I slamio S eats, S a ints, and S upersti tions. Th e
S unnis and Shi ahs. Th e Suhs. Th e B abis.
S enusi order. Th e Ahmadis. S pirits, fa iri es,and gi ants . S a ints. Fakirs. Th e Pirs and
the irMurids. Shrines and Fa irs. Th e Gate ofParadise . S h ah ids ormartyrs. S trange legends.
Th e mystic hand . Th e Tawi z or CharmX IX.—1Wazde i sm or Zoroastri anism. Origin of th e
Parsees. Ahura Ma zda and th e ancientre ligion of Persia . Th e Wise m en of th e
East.” Th e Zend-Avesta , or Scriptures of
th e Parse es. Paradise and He ll. Th e sacredliquor Homa . Cre ed of to-day. Parse e priestsand fire -temples. Childhood. Initiation rite .
Marri age ceremony. Practice s at obse quies.
Th e D og-
gaze .
” Towers of S i lence . Cus
toms. Calendar and names ofMonths. Th e
two S e cts. FestivalsXX.—Th e M anagement of Fa irs. Horrors of form er
days. Me asures taken to m itigate suflerings
of pi lgrims. Standing orders ne cessary for
dealing wi th a large Me la . ConclusionAPPENDICES .
(i )- Map of Indi a showing places mentioned .
(i i )—Works ofRe ference .
(i i i ) -Glossary and Index.
WORKS OF REFERENCE .
B ri e f History of th e Indi an Peoples, by W. W. HUNTER .
Census and S ettlem ent Reports.
Cyclopae dia of India , by EDWARD B ALFOUR.
Early History of India , by VINCENT SMITH .
Encyclope dia B ritannica .
Hinduism , Past and Pre sent, by J . MURRAY MITCHELL.Imperi al and D istri ct G azette ers.
Indian Wisdom , by MONIER WILLIAMS .
Islam , by SYED AMEER AL I .
Mystics, Asce t ics, and S a ints of I nd ia , by J . C. OMAN .
Orissa , by W. W . HUNTER .
Parsi , Ja ina ,and S ikh , by D . M. THORNTON .
Re ligious Thought and L i fe i n India , by MONIER WILLIAMS .
S le eman’
s Ram ble sStudi e s of Non-Christian R e ligions, by ELIOT HOWARD .
Th e Highlands of Central India , by CAPTAIN FORSYTH .
Th e Holy Qoran, with comm entary, by MUHAMMAD ABDULHAKIM KHAN .
Th e Koran , with notes, by G . SALE .
Th e Tim es of India I llustrate d We ekly.
Th e Twe lve Upan ishads, by TOOKARAM TATYA .
Th e We st in th e East, by PRICE COLLIER.Th e \Vorld ’
s Re ligions, by G . T . B ETTANY.
Tod’s Ra jasthan , annotate d , by VINCENT SMITH.
Use ful Table s, by PRINSEP .
Western Tibe t, by CH . A . SHERRING .
FAITHS, FAIRS, AND FESTIVALSOF INDIA.
CHAPTER I .
INTRODUCTION.
IN order to per‘
ce ive h ow th e re ligions of Ind iahave taken shape , it is convenient to trace brieflyth e history of th e principal raceswhich have people dth e country .
We must go back t o th e aboriginal orprimitivetribes, about whose origin so little is known posit ive ly . Some of them are be lieved to have entered
India at various t imes, severa l thousands ofye arsbe fore Christ , from th e ne ighbourhood of Tartary
and Tibet .'
Next we have the Kolarians, whoapparent ly cam e from th e same dire ction and
,
passing through Bengal , finally se tt led in th e
mountainous regions ofth e central portion of India.
Thirdly there are th e gre at Dravidian race s in
Southern India , whose ante ce dents se em to have
advanced into th e country through th e passes of
th e north-west .The se were th e thre e main stocks of p rimit ive
tribes first known to h ave occupied th e Peninsulamost of them were of small stature and dark skin,Wi th flat noses and low iforeh eads.
2 FAI THS , FAIRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Th e Gonds and Korkus in Central Indi a ,th e
Bhils in th e hillsto th e west , th e Kondh s inGondvana
and Orissa , . th e Santhals and Kols in th e hi lly
tracts north of th e Gange s in Bengal, th e Khasias
and Garos on th e e astern bOrder, th e Puliyars and
Nairsofth e Madrashills, th e savagesofth e Andam an
Islands, and th e ce lebrated Gurkhas in th e ne ighbour
hood oi Nepal are repre sentatives of the se ancient
races.
Som e two thousand ye ars before Christ there
came about a gre at upheaval in Ceh tral Asia in t h e
region which surrounds th e source s of th e Oxus
members of a great primeval race , wh o called
themselve sArya , spre ad abroad into Europe , Persia ,and India . They were a people of good physique ,with fair complexions and fine fe atures t h e skin
of those who resided in t h e plains of India be came
darkened , while that of t h e others wh o dwe lt inth e cooler climes of Europe assumed a paler hue .
The ir language was th e common source'
oi S anskrit ,Frakit ,
~
Zend, Persian , and Armenian in Asia ;and of th e Gre ek , Italic , Ce ltic , Teutonic, and
S lavonic language s in Europe . In like manner
t he ir re li gion gave root to others, whi ch thrive d
in th e fruitful soil ofAsia , but have nowd isappe ared
in Europe , although trace s still remain there inlanguages, legends, and superstitions.
Th e Aryans, wh o entered India , came by wayof Persia and , after sojourning on th e banks of
th e Indus, advanced to th e e ast of th e Punjab ,where they formed a large settlement ne ar th e
ORI GIN OF IND I AN RELIGIONS . 3
sacred river Sarasvati (Sarusti) in th e ne ighbourhood oi Kuruksh e tra (Thanesar) . They afterwardsspread into th e Gange tic plains and th e whole of
Central India ; hence th e classical name for that
portion of India , whi ch lies be twe en t h e Himalayaand th e Vindya mountains, i s Arya-Varta , or
Abode ofAryans.
’
Anothe r name for India—and
t hat commonlyused in Sanskrit literature—is Bharataor Bharata -Varsha ,
i e ., th e Country of King
Bharata ,
’
a monarch wh o probably re igned overe xtensive territorie s in ancient time s.
Th e Indo-Aryan s finally forced the ir way south
of th e Vindya mountains and , forming fresh
colonies, introduced the ir customs into all partsof India ; at th e same t ime adopting some of th e
practices of th e earlier race s with whom they cameinto contact .
Th e aboriginal, or non-Aryan , tribes were
looked down upon as savage s by th e Aryan invaders,and those wh o did not re tre at be fore them into
t h e forests and mountains were tre ated as inferior
be ings and b e came serfs.
There is reason to be l ieve that th e region of th e
River Sarasvat i is th e birth-place of Brahmanism
or th e Hindu re ligion , but its principal deve lopment
took place at Benares on th e Ganges.
It was in th e ne ighbourhood of Benare s that
Gautama Buddha commenced h is public teaching
about 50 0 B . C. and , for more than a thousand
ye ars, t h e re ligion, started by h im , cont inued to be a
menace to Brahmanism . Th e great ruler Asoka
4 FAITHS ,FAIRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
gave an enormous impe tus to Buddh ism by
appoint ing it asa State re ligion and by taking infini te
pa ins to purify its doctrines and Spre ad them
abroad . Although many of its principle s are st ill
apparent in Hinduism and a se ct ofHindus, terme d
Jains, remain influenced by it , yet Buddhism was
not destined to stay in India ; be twe en 70 0 and
90 0 AD . it‘
lost ground in th e country as a popular
faith and finally succumbed to Brah manism but
it found a permanent footing.
in Ceylon,Tibe t ,
Nepal, Burma , China, and Japan and is now
followed in these countrie sbym illionsofpe ople . In
a somewhat similar manner th e Christ ian re ligion ,
which arose in Pale st ine , le ft i ts birth-place toSpre ad over Europe .
In 337 B .C. an invasion of Indi a by t he Gre eks,under Alexander th e Great , took place from th e
north-west it failed, however, to proce e d beyond
t h e limits of th e Punjab and th e Gre eks did not
rema in there long enough to influence th e re ligionsof th e country ; even the ir successors, th e G raeco
Bactrians, wh o occupied th e We stern Punjab for a
conside rable period , le ft little more than the ircoins to te ll th e tale .
From about 1 0 0 B .C. to 500 AD . furtherincursionsOftribes, known as S cythians, from CentralAsia occurred ; these people ouste d th e Graeco
Bactrians and took possession of a tract,whi ch
extended from Agra and S indh in th e south to
Merve,and Yarkand beyond th e Himalayas in th e
north. They adopted th e Buddhist faith and t he ir
6 FAI THS ,FAIRS ,
AND FES TIVAL S .
Th e Dutch ,Portugue se , and French have all,
at one time or another, obta ined some territory in
India and signs of the ir influence may still be found
at isolated points.
Finally th e British gained suprema cy throughout
th e whole of India , including Burma , and th e
political sway of th e British Government is greate r
thanthat ever wie lded by any former power wh ich
h as ruled in India .
Notwithstanding th e changes throughout all
the se ages, th e gre ater portion of th e populationhasrema ined Hindu and th e moral influence of IndoAryan civi lization is still paramount am ong th e
masses of India .
In th e de scriptions which follow,there fore ,
more space will be allotted to th e Hindu re ligionthan to any other.
CHAPTER I I .
BEL IEFS or THE ABORIG INAL S AND or THE AR'
YANS .
Aboriginal Be liefs.
VERY little has be en ascerta ined concerning th e
manne rs and customs of t h e pre-Aryan tribe s.
Be ing illiterate , they le ft no re cords of any descrip
t ion inde ed, th e only source s of informa tion
regarding the irre li gion are th e Vedic poems (where in ,
however, they are described as interiors, ev il livers,and demons) , th e rema ins found in tombs, and ,
finally ,deduct ions from t h e customs and language s
of t h e e xist ing tribes descended from them .
Throughout th e age s there h as been considerableamalgam at ion of th e Aryan and th e aboriginal
e lements in blood , language , and re ligion ; but it is
possible forone we ll ve rse d in th e Hindu scripture s
to distinguish be twe en th e e arly be lie fs and those
of pure ly Aryan origin , or introduced by Brahmans.
Naturally much informat ion can be obtained in th e
wilder regions where t h e ancient tribe s are found
in some thing approachi ng the ir primitive purity .
Th e e vidence , obta ined in this manner, tends
t o show that t h e pre -Aryans be lieved in a vague
panthe ism ,in which all nature was regarded as
pervaded by evil Spirits, to be appe ased by offerings.
To the se influences were attributed disease and
8 Fa rri s, FAIRS , AND FESTI VAL S .
sickne ss among man and be ast blights and pests
among crops ; storms-and floods ; accidents and ill
luck of every description .
Reside nts in th e mountains were under th e
impre ssion that in e ach pe ak dwe lt a Spirit which
must be propitiated by giftsbe fore the y comm enced
cultivation on th e hill Slope s. Th e principal crops
h ad spe cial gods, wh o require d satisfaction be fore
sowing or reaping began . There were demons of
th e fore sts and those of th e stre ams, all of whomwere re spected, or rather fe ared ; woe to h im wh o
made a cle arance in th e former and did not le ave
a ch imp of tre es as a re fuge for th e mystery god ,
orwh o divert ed th e whole of a rivule t for th e
irrigat ion of his land and made no allowance fort h e thirsty water-nymph .
Then there were th e disagre e able and spite ful
ghosts ofdeparted ancestors, for th e laying ofwhich
various ceremonies h ad to be performed such as
enticing them into th e bod ies of animals which,
a fter be ing prote ct ed for some time . were finallyburied .
It doe s not appear that any of the se malignant
powers were repre sented by images idolatry se ems
to have been a product ion of Hindui sm and th e
aboriginals were probably only too glad to kee p
the ir gods at a distance . Th e ne arest approachto idol worship was th e marking of certain spot swith bright pigment , or t h e piling of stone s roundt h e foot of a tre e , to l
’
ocalise th e gods, as it were ,
ARYAN B ELI EFS . 9
Witchcraft was ev idently practised for th e
purpose of exercising ev il Spirits, orfor interpreting
signs and omens we can we ll be lieve that some thing
of th e kind must have be en ne cessary to re lievethe fee lings of those unfortunate peop le .
Th e re ligion of th e primitive tribeswas, in effe ct ,a most uncomfortable one , inipregnat ed with th e
fear of innumerable ev il spirits. It is a fact that
many of the ir de scendan ts of th e pre sent day haveno knowledge of any omnipotent and beneficent
de ity, nor do the y be lieve in friendly and cheerful
gods, but devote th e ir energie s to appe ase hosts of
demons by me ans of offe rings and sa crifices. It isalso remarkable that ne arly all of the ir be lie fs are
st ill to be found ,in one shape or another, among
th e lower class Hindus or Sudras,and a gre at many
among the rusti c populat ion .
Aryan Be li efs.
It is pleasing to turn from the se primitive
pe oples to t h e almost civi lized Aryans, of whose
re ligion we gain such an e xtensive knowle dge from
the ancient colle ct ion of hymns. known as th e Rig
Ve da . Thi s valuable memorial shows them in
the ir e arly se ttlements on t h e banks of th e Indus
and Sarasvati ; they were hap py in posse ssing
bright and live ly gods, with none of th e malignant
fiends which worried t h e wild tribes whom they
found in India .
Our Aryan fore fathers in the ir Asiatic homes
appearto have be lieved originally in. an all-pervad ing
I O FAI THS , FAIRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Spirit , who controlled t h e universe and regulated
t h e action of th e he avenly bodies, but th ey‘
came
to regard e ach of th e principal forces ofnature as a
separate de ity to be invoke d as occasion arose .
The ir houses, lands, and herds were frequently at
th e mercy of wind, fire , and water ; so th e force s
ofth e sky and airprovide d most ofthe irmyt hology .
Several of the gods of th e Indo-Aryans were
likewise th e gods of th e Gre eks and Romans and
of th e ancient Persians thus Dyaus, th e sky or
he avenly father,’
was t h e Zeus of Gre e ce ,th e
Jupiter (Dyaus-Pitar) of Rome and th e old god
Tiu of our Tue sday . Aditi was a goddess close lyconne cted with Dyaus, Sh e be ing th e boundle ss
e xpanse and mother of all gods' whi le a de ve lop
ment oft h e same called Varuna , th e encompassingsky,
’ corre sponded with th e Roman Uranus and
t h e Ahura Mazda , or Ormazd , .oi th e Zoroastrianmythology.
Varuna was perhaps th e gre ate st of the ir godsin Central Asia h e was supposed to rule t h euniverse and guide all th e forces of nature h e was
all-knowing and all-powerful, and a god wh o
would reward th e good and punish t h e evil-doers.
Indra , th e god of rain, was more appre ciate d byth e Indo-Aryans, for in Northern India th e rainyse ason has always be en looked forward to byagriculturistsand its approach hai led by them with
de light . This god corre sponds with th e Jupi terPluv ius of th e Romans and for some t ime took
pre cedence ofmost others 1n India, be ing de scribed
ARYAN B ELIEFS . I I
as a mighty warrior, whose arrows of lightningand thunderousroars drove all enem iesbe fore h im
h e de lighte d in offerings of strong liquor and was
more of a compani on than Varuna , t h e good and
just , wh o somewhat overawe d th e pe ople .
Agni (Ignis) , th e god of fire , was a home ly
de ity , wh o provide d warmth in th e cold se ason ,
repe lle d darkness and enemie s in th e shape of
wild beasts, and carrie d th e offerings ofgh ee (clarifiedbutter) in flames towards th e he avens.
Surya , th e sun, gave light and warmth duringt h e day and ripened th e cr0ps. Ushas, th e dawn ,
always fre sh , fair, and young , prov ide d food forth e poe t
’
s swe e test songs while th e two Asvinas,or e arly morning stre aks of light , were praised as
heralds of th e dawn .
One of t h e most remarkable things to be de ified
was S oma , an intoxicating drink made from th e
fermented juice of a milky weed (sarcostemma
vim inale ) , which grows in th e hills. After its
discovery it was at first used on occasions ofre ligious
ceremonie s, but it was laude d and prai se d to such
an e xtent that finally it attained th e position of a
god . It was th e Homa of th e Iran ians.
Vayu ,t h e wind , and Maruts, th e storm gods,
comple te t h e list of th e principal de ities of t h e
Aryans. Curiously enough , th e moon and stars
re ce ived little attent ion from them and even th e
goddess Prithvi , th e e arth, was not given a
prominent place ; perhaps sh e was too solid and
placid a body to interest these enterprising pe ople .
1 2 FAI THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
B e fore t h e Aryans entere d India they did not
apparently make use of idols“ in the ir reli gious
ceremonie s, nor did they indulge in hero worshi p .
They be lie ve d that Yama was th e first man and
an offspring of t h e sun , also that on h is de ath h e
re side d in t h e he avens, where h e re ce ive d and
wat che d over th e departe d one s. Prayers were
said to th e spirits of th e pi tri s (de ce ased ancestors) ,which did not , howe ver, take th e Spite ful formassigned to them by t h e primitive Indians.
There were no temple s or buildings for public
worship in those time s, nor d id regular prie sts
officiat e at th e re ligious ceremonie s ; th e he ad of
e ach household performed the se dutie s, whi ch
consisted of offering gifts to th e gods, praying, andrepe ating hymns of praise .
Animals, such as goats, she ep , cows and bulls,and e venhorse s, we re sacrificed and the se , with th e
some , were conside re d to augment t h e strength
and activ ity of th e gods.
It is sa id that th e sacrifice of human be ingsoccasionally occurred , but , if so ,
t h e practice wasuncommon and looked upon with disdain as be inga custom of th e savage s.
It se ems that , when they had be en se ttled for
some time in th e north-we st of India , many of t h e
Aryans found time for the study of re ligious and
philosophical matters. They indulged in romanceregarding th e performances of the ir ance stors and
found food for refle ction in t h e superst itions and
fe ars of t h e Sudras forms of ritual and new gods
CHAPTER I I I .
THE SACRED Book s or THE HINDUS .
THE Hindu scripture s may be divided into two
main portions, name ly, t h e Inspired ,’
or Sm ti
(that which h as be en he ard) , and t h e Un- inspired,’
or Smrz’
tz’
(that which h as be en remembere d) .
Th e Sm tz'
is suppose d to have be en divine ly
uttered and is there fore authoritative its various
parts were handed down by repe tition and finally
committed towriting by t h e priests or Brahmans.
Th e Smri ti does not rank as dire ct re ve lationfrom th e gods, but is classed as sacre d tradition .
Some of th e ancient literature , howe ver,occupies a middle position and is considered to havebe en partly inspired to this category be long th etwo epic poems, th e Mahabharata and Ramayana
t h e Hindus also regard the ir ancient code s of law,
or D harm S hastras, as almost divine productions.
Th e main ide a which perme ate s the ir scripturesis that there is one pervading D ivine Spirit ,wh o manifests himse lf in misce llane ous ways
there is no he ll, such as t hat mentione d ln th e
Christian scriptures, but t h e soul passes from one
body to another—e ven into those of animalsre ce iving reward or punishment in this world , untilit finally merge s in th e D ivine Spirit and re ache sNirvana or t h e highest he aven.
’
SACRED BOOK S OF THE HINDUS . I S
Th e inspired literature consists of th e fourVedas and the ir app endice s th e Brahmanas.
Th e word Veda me ans knowledge ,’
and is
derive d from th e root m’
d it corresponds with theL at in
'
videre , to se e the English to wit and
th e Scandinavian vedan .
Th e four Ve das comprising what is generallytermed th e Ve da ,
are calle d respe ctive ly —Th eRi ch , ,
0 rRig Veda ; th e S aman, or S ama Veda
t h e Yajash , or Yujar Veda and th e A tharvana
or Atharva Veda . Each of the se is now composed
of thre e parts : th e Mantras, which are hymns
of praise in verse ; th e B rahmanas, ritualistic
pre cepts in prose and t h e Upani shads,comm entarie s partly in prose and partly in
verse ,including th e Aranyakas.
Th e RigVeda was probably composed about
1 50 0 B .C. and the re a fte r re cite d orally unt il it
was re duced t o writing it conta ins poems
or hymns ofpra ise ,which give a v ivid picture of th e
re ligion ,customs, and manners of th e Aryans in
the ir first se tt leme nt in t h e north-west of India
and glimpses of the ir earlierbe lie fs in Central Asia .
Its principal gods have alre ady be en ment ioned .
We can perce ive in it signs of a re ligion which
perhaps commenced with monothe ism—touched
with a dash of panthe ism— and gradually re lapsedinto polythe ism ,
but there i snothing to Show that
images were worshipped , nor is any ment ionmade
I 6 FAI THS ,FAI RS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
of transmigrat ion of souls, or of caste in its
Brahman ize d form .
Th e S ama Veda and Yujar Veda are not of t h e
sam e importance they both conta in much of th e
Rig Veda ,arranged for t h e purpose s of ritual,
and corre spond with th e Christ ian prayer- book .
Th e Atharva Veda is a colle ct ion of hymns and
was partly compiled from th e later port ion of t h e
R ig Veda ; it , howe ver, introduce s ev il divin it ies,
mysterie s, spe llsforde alingwit h demons, and other
practice s of a like nature . Thiswork was ev ident ly
composed after t h e Aryans h ad come into contact
with th e prev ious occupants of th e country .
To e ach oft h e Vedaswas attach ed a commentary
calle d Baahmana . It is cle ar tha t th e prie stly class
h ad be en formed and h ad assume d conside rablepower over t h e minds of th e pe ople ,
when these
were compiled about 60 0 B .C. ,for, be side s e xpla ining
th e dutie s of th e priests and th e manners in which
they are t o make sacrifice s and perform otherrites, they e xtol the ir position .
In th e div ine ly inspired port ion of the Hinduscripture s, there fore , th e Vedassupp ly t h e hymns
of praise or psalm s and th e‘
Bm hmaa as provide th eritual.
Smriti .
To th e inspired Vedas and Brahmanas wereafterwards added further sacred works, whi ch are
tre ated as S mri -tz’
, t h e things rememberedf
We may first ment ion th e Upani shads or d is
solut ion of ignorance ,’
which are to be found with
SA CRED BOOK S OF THE HINDUS . I 7
various parts of th e scripture s, some among th eVedas, many with th e Brahmanas and Aranyakas,
others standing alone . Only a few were composedin Vedic days and many are ofcomparative ly re cent
date . There are about 240 of them and they
consist of Spe culat ive notes regardingGod, th e soul,and existence . They form th e root , as it were , of
Hindu philosophy , and pract ically constitut e th e
only Ve da for all thoughtful Hindus of th e presentt ime .
There are two ide as of sacred knowledge in th eUpanishads. In Karma Kanda ,
th e one God ,
although re ally without sh ape , assume s various formsin order t o bring himse lf to th e leve l of human
understanding (like th e S on ofMan) . In th e other,called ! nana K anda, if true knowledge is to be
obtaine d , one must be lieve in one great Spirit ,wh o pervade s and constitute s th e universe , and
into whom th e souls of men finally merge .
In order t o Show h ow union with th e D ivine
Spirit may be obtained , th e Upan ishads te ach
moksh a , or th e forge tting of se lf and surroundings
some se ek to achieve thi s by Yoga , which consists
of certa in physical and mental processes.
Th e intense re ligious thinking which h ad be en
going on in those early days led persons to be
come asce t ics, wh o re tired to solitary place s for
meditation and the performance of austerities ;for them special appendices of th e Vedas, called
Araayakas, or treatise s for th e forest re cluswere compiled .
1 8 FA I TE S ,FA I RS
,AND FES TI VALS .
Astime progre sse d it wasconsidered expedient to
c lassify th e former sa cre d works and comm entaries,and t o expound philosoph ica l ideas and re ligious
doctrine s ; thus a serie s of six tre atises, called
Darsanas, or refle ct ions of wisdom ,
’ cam e to be
indited . They were written in sutms or shastm s
(strings of aphorisms) , base d chiefly on the
Upanishads, and are as follows
I . Th e Nyaya , founde d by Gautama or
Akshapada .
2 . Th e Va isesh ika , by Kanada or Kaua
bh aksh a .
3 . Th e Sankhya , by Kapila .
4. Th e Yoga ,bV Patanjali .
5. Th e Mimamsa, by Jaim ini .
6. Th e Vedanta , by Badarayana or Vyasa .
Th e Nyaya is an analysis which te ache s the
m e thod of e liciting true knowle dge and of atta ining
comple te happiness. It ’ holds that th e world is
made up of e ternal a toms ; that th e soul and m ind
are separate ; Although adm itting that God has
strength, will, and knowledge , y e t it does not
acknowledge him as all-powerful or as the Cre ator.Notwithstanding all this th e Nyaya supports thetruth ofth e Veda .
Th e Vaisesh ika generally follows th e Nyaya in
i ts doctrines, but it makes no mention of God .
Th e Sankhya is a system with somewhatagnostic tendency , for it holds that the e xistenceof God is not proved ; it declare s that there are
THE DARSANAS . 1 9
two e ternal agencie s—Nature and Souls thre e
principle s—Truth , Passion,and D arkne ss it also
m e ntions tha t out ofnothing can nothing come .
”
None of th e above thre e systems contemplate
p rayer or worship as ne cessary .
Th e Yoga agre es with th e Sankhya in almost
e ve ry particular, but curiously differs in acknow
ledging t h e e xistence of a Supreme Be ing it
propounds t h e e xtraordinary doctrine that , in order
t o e ffe ct union with God , it is ne cessary t o cone en
trate t h e m ind on one spe cial matte r or obj e ct .
Followers of this system are calle d Yogis and may
be se en assum ing curious posture s and perform ingawful austerit ie s.
Th e M imansa is a kind of scient ific disquisition
on t h e Veda , which is pronounce d t o be th e only
truth .
Th e Vedanta me ans th e end of th e Veda and
t here fore should b e an analysis, but actually it is
a philosophical discussion founded on supple
mentary works like th e Upanishads. In th e
Vedanta system God , who is one with th e soul,
p ervade s t h e universe . Meditation is conside re d
to be,the gre at requisite , for thereby true knowledge
is acquired and it is de clare d that h e wh o knows
God be come s God when this is stated , it is
difficult to follow th e conclusions re garding
t ransmigration .
Sankara Acharya , a disciple of Kumari la and
nat ive of Malabar, during extensive wanderings,
2 0 FAI THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
pre ached regarding t h e Vedanta system with
so much succe ss that h e popularized it among those
of both high and low caste , le aving on hi s death a
compact se ct among th e Bram ans and a popular
re ligion ; for Siva , in h is capacity as destroyer
and cre ator, appealed to th e priestly class and , in
h is terrible shapes, was a suitable de ity to attract
th e Sudras and non-Aryan races with the ir re ligion
of fe ar.
Another ph ilosophi cal compilation of some
importance , whi ch may be noted here , is th eBhagavat Gi ta, which is inserted in th e middle of th e
Mahabharata . It deals, to a large e xtent , with th eviews expressed in th e Yoga , Sankhya , and Vedantasystems and attempts to bring them into harmony .
Much ofthiswork istakenup with a dialogue be twe en
Krishna and Arjuna , one of th e gre at leaders
mentioned in th e Mahabharata . Considerablere spect is shown for th e words uttered by Krishna,for h e is supposed to have be en a mani festation of
th e gre at god Vishnu . Th e e xistence of an externalworld is admitted and th e book te ache s th e
advantages of concentrating th e mind . It avoidsmagic and asce ticism, and is principally concernedin th e laudation ofKrishna, wh o is regarded as th e
Supreme Be ing and is de scribed as finally re vealing
himse lf to Arjuna in thi s capacity—possessed of
myriads of faceswith fe atures shining like th e sun .
A noticeable feature of th e work is th e similarity,
in certain respe cts, of th e story of Krishna tothat of Christ in th e New Te stament .
22 FA I THS ,FA I RS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
and there is an account of h is life in t h e tenth
book , a version ofwhich, in Hindi , ist h e we ll-known
Prem-S agar or Oce an of Love .
’
There are also e ighte en Upa -Puranas, which
de al with t h e same matters as t h e Puranas and
were written later as the ir appendice s.
Th e Hindu Trini ty.
In th e Veda mention is occasionally made of th e
triple form offire and ofth e thre e godsAgni , Surya ,and Indra as a kind of joint manife station ; later
th e doctrine of a trinity, or rather triple manife sta
tion ,deve loped . Brahma, t h e unive rsal and
Suprem e B e ing, assumed th e form of activity as
Brahma t he Cre ator, of goodne ss as Vishnu th ePre server, and of darkne ss as S iva th e D estroyer.
This formation first appe ars in th e Brahm an ized
version of th e Indian epics. Th e Ve dic Vishnu ,
conne cted with Surya ,th e sun, be came Vishnu th e
preserver ; Rudra , connected with Indra and th e
Maruts, be came th e destroyer S iva .
According to Hindu be lie f all de ath le ads tonew life , all destruction to reproduction hence S ivafinally be comes th e cre ator and h e is more oftensyrnbolized by L inga , th e male organ ofgenerationand emblem of reproduction, than by any repre
sentat ion of de struction . Some time s th e linga is
surrounded by th e female symbol Yom'
.
Vishnu and S iva , in the irvariousmale and female“
shape s, have continued to be th e favourite godsof th e Hindu .
THE A VATARS OF VI SHNU. 23
Lakhshmi , or Sri , th e godde ss of we alth, isVishnu
’
swife or counterpart and , assuch, brings outall h iskindly qualit ie s Kali , th e wife of Siva , on th eoth er hand, is a terrible godde ss, wh o exercises all
h is destructive power and re quires a vast amountof propitiation.
Vishnu is said to have ten dvdtars, or de scents,as follows1 . M atsya , Fish . 6. Parasn Rama.
2 . K arma , Tortoise . 7. Rama , of th e Rama
yana .
3. Varaka , Boar. 8. Krishna .
4. Nara S inha , Man-lion . 9 . Gautama Buddha .
5. Vamana , Dwarf . 1 0 . K alki—ye t to appear.
Th e first thre e have re ference to a gre at de luge ,such as is re ferred to in th e scriptures of most re li
gions. Th e Hindu account of this flood is that
Mann , th e se cond ancestor of mankind , re ce ived
orders from th e Almighty to construct a ship and
take with him there in seven holy men and se eds
ofall living be ings. When th e waters rose , Vishnu
in t h e Shape of Matsya , an enormousfish , appeared
and towe d it to a high peak where it rested unt il th e
flood subsided . In the form of Kurma , a tortoise ,
h e re covere d during th e de luge many valuable
article s from th e bottom of the sea , including th ebeautiful godde ss Lakhshmi , th e wife of Vishnu .
In h is thi rd appe arance asVaraba, a boar, Vishnu
fought wi th a terrible demon named Hiranyaksha
and raise d th e e arth, which h ad be en thrown into
a gulf by h is Opponent .
24 FAI THS ,FA IRS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
In t h e fourth de scent a demon king, Hiranya
Kashyapu , h ad obtained a promise from Brahma
that no god , man, nor animal Should have power t o
slay h im, but when h e attempted to destroy h is own
son Prahlad , w h o disple ased h im by respe cting
Vishnu,t h e latter suddenly appe are d in th e shape ,
not ofgod , man, or be ast , but of Nara - S inha ,a
man-lion , and tore h im to pie ce s.
As Vamana , a dwarf, in h is fifth de scent Vishnu
requeste d a kingnamed Bali , who was scheming to
diSplace Indra from hi s dom inion , to give h im as
much of h is territory as h e could stride over in thre e
paces on th e gift be ing granted ,h e suddenly
assumed enormous proportions and ,taking he aven
and e arth with h is first two steps, place d h is foot onBal i and crushe d h im into th e ne therregionswithth e third .
Th e sixth descent was as Parasu Rama, wh o
proce ede d throughout t h e e arth slaying Kshatriyas
with an axe , be cause they h ad be en ill-tre ating
Brahmans. Parasu Rama dwe lt ne ar Goa , but
shame of h ismother’
smisde e dsmade him le ave thatplace and it is said that
,in h is anger, h e se ized a
battle - axe and hurled it from th e mountains south
wards across t h e se a as far as Cape Comorin. Th e
consequence was that t h e oce an there drie d up and
be came t h e long flat tract of country now calledMalabar. Th e battle -axe use d to figure on th e
ancient coinage of th e West Coast of India .
’
Th e se venth was one of Vishnu ’
smost ce le brate d
incarnations h e then appe ared in th e form of
THE A VA TARS OF VI SHNU . 25
Rama, or Ram Chandra , th e romantic story of
whom is re lated separate ly.
When Vishnu de scended for th e e ighth time ,
it was to appe ar in th e Shape oft h e popular Krishna .
Th e legend runs that Kansa, once king of Mathura
imprisoned a person named Vasudeva
and h is wife Devat i , be cause of a prophe cy that
one of the ir sons would slay h im h e killed off six
of th e sons in succe ssion as they were born , but th e
seventh escaped by a miracle . Vasude va contriveda lso to ge t away with h is e ighth son
,th e wondrous
Krishna , th e dark one .
’
Th e infant , wh owasplacedin charge of a herdsman calle d Nanda ,
soon began
t o distinguish himse lf by h is miraculous powers
and by h is capacity for joking and amusement .
Many are th e tale s of h i s sports with t h e Gopis, or
m ilkmaids, on t h e banks of th e Jumna ; h e hid
the ir garments while they bathed , purloined the ir
m ilk and butter, and inde ed played all kinds of
pranks with th e women-folk . He was also not
satisfied with a thousand wives but indulged in six
times that number.
Krishna is frequently repre sented as a young
man with a black face ,standingon one foot with th e
othercrossed and only t h e pointsofth e toe s touchingth e ground in this position h e plays a flute .
Krishna appe ars in t h e Mahabharata as a
distinguishe d prince and ,after going through th e
gre at war be twe en t h e Pandavas and Kauravas
finally falls a victim to t h e flight of an arrow shot
by an archer wh o mistake s h im for a de er.
FA I THS , FA I RS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
Buddha is regarded as th e ninth incarnation
and‘ it is re lated that Vishnu assumed this shape
to de ce ive low- caste pe ople , or demons, into
negle cting th e worship of th e gods.
In th e tenth dvdtar, which is ye t to come at
th e end ofth e present orKali age , Vishnu is expe cte d
to appear as Kalki,for th e purpose of punishing
th e wicked, de stroying t h e enemie s of Brahrnans,
and re -e stablishing righte ousness upon e arth . I t
is said ' th at h e will be reve aled in th e sky , mounte don a white ste ed, with a flaming'
sword in hi s hand .
a
Th e Tantras.
Th e Tantras contain doctrine s which formth e cre e d of a comparative ly small class called
Tantrikds. Many of th e principle s, when acte d .
upon , are e spe cially liable to deve lop impurityand licentiousne ss.
A Tantra is supposed to tre at of five subje cts
I . Cre ation .
2 . D estruction .
3 . Worship of gods.
4. Attainment of th e final obj e ct .
5. Four mode s of union with t h e Supreme
Spirit .
They are not , howe ver, confined to t he se points,but include evil spe lls, magic, witchcraft , withmany other matters of mystery . Altoge ther theyform a very low class of literature .
A large number ofTantras have'be en written and
they take th e place ofth e Puranas for a class known
THE TANTRAS . 27
as S aktas, orworsh ippers of the S akti . Th e me aningof this word is the energy-giving will
, or power, of
t h e thre e gods Brahm i , Vishnu, and S iva , as
manifested in the irwive s. Sarasvati is th e wife of
Brahma, and Lakh shmi , or Sri , that of Vishnubut it is Kali , th e female counterpart of S iva , who
is espe cially responsible for th e more horrible and
repulsive practices. Kali is also known as Durga ,
Parvat i , D evi , Bhairav i, Uma , and by othernames.
Th e Tantrasurge se cre cy upon those who practise
Sakti rite s.
Th e Sakt as, ofwhom furtherment ion ismade in
Chapter XI, are mostly,le ft-hand worshippers, that
is, they se le ct th e goddesses whose images are
always placed on t h e le ft of th e gods—for spe cial
attention .
CH’
APTER IV.
BRAHMANS , CASTE ,AND THE DHARM
SEASTRAS .
THE Aryans probably h ad no systematic arrange
ment of classes be fore they arrived in India . It
would appe arthat”
theywere div ided into tribes, e ach
of which h ad its sele cted Chie ftain wh o controlled
t h e tribal affairS '
of all kinds, while t h e he ad of e ach
family group acted as captain and prie st within
th e tribe .
Wh en they abandoned the ir nomadic life and
se ttled in t h e Punjab many took to agriculture ;some engaged in trade and handicrafts ; others
practised military exercise s and acted as warriorsfor th e prote ction of th e se ttlements against assault ,orfor waging war t o acquire fresh territory . To
supply t h e want of menials they made slaves of
t h e prisoners whom they took from among th e
aboriginals.
After a time , t h e more inte lle ctual Aryansbegan to constitute themse lve s t h e re ligious te ach ersand polit ical guides of th e people , be com ing knownas Brahmans or divine one s.
’ They framedstringent rule s to ensure the ir position and be forelong, owing to the ir superior knowledge and int e lli
gence , gained enormous influence over all othersand monopolized th e Spiritual authority.
30 FAI THS ,FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
constituted , as it were , th e divine agent upon
e arth.
Th e fighting Kshatriya appropriat ely issued
from Brahma’
s mighty arm th e food-providing
Vaisya from hi ssinewy thigh and th e down-trodden
Sudra from h is foot .Th e four original classe s gradually be came
sub-divided to suit social, geographical , and re ligious
conditions and at th e pre sent time caste s may be
counted in thousands th e se cond and third classeshave lost the iroriginal significance , but th e Brahman
re igns supreme and th e mainstay of Brahmanismi s caste . Every good Hindu looks forward to attaina higher position in h is next life
,until finally hi s
soul, thoroughly purified,enters t h e
'
gre at Brahma,th e divin e e ssence which pervade st h e whole universe .
In th e south ofIndia some oft h e Sudra , or abori
ginel , caste s have succe eded in obtainingre cognition
asBrahmans they we ar th e sacred thre ad and re fusepre cedence to t h e admitte d Brahmans.
Th e late S ir Denzil Ibbe tson in summarizingh is le arne d disquisition on caste in t h e Report onth e Census of t h e Punjab
,remarks
Thus if t h e t he ory be corre ct, we have th e
following steps in th e proce ss by which caste h as
be en e volved in t h e Punjab
(1 ) Th e tribal divisions common to all primit ivesocie t ies
(2) th e guilds based upon here ditary occupationcommon t o th e middle life of all
c ommunit ie s
CA S TE . 31
the e xaltation of th e priestly offi ce to a
degre e une xampled in other countries(4) th e e xaltat ion of th e L evitical blood , by
'
a
spe cial insistence upon th e ne ce ssari lyhereditary nature of occupation
(5) th e pre servation and support of thisprinciple by t h e e laboration from th e
the oriesof t h e Hindu cre ed or cosmogonyof a pure ly artificial set of rules, regulating marriage and inter-marriage ,de claring cert a in occupations and foodsto be irnpure and pollut ing , and prescribing t h e conditions and degre e of
social intercourse permitted be twe en th e
several caste s: Add to the se th e prideof social rank and th e pride of blood
which are natural t oman, andwhich alonecould re concile a nation to restrictionsat once irksome from a dome stic and
burdensome from a material point of
View and it is hardly to be wondered at
that caste should have assume d the
ri gidity which dist inguishes it in India .
”
Mention h as be en made of th e strict ruleswhich
were frame d by th e Brahmans these were not only
forth e regulation ofre ligiousrite s and practices, but
alsoforth e adm inistration of justice and th e control
of domestic affa irs. They favoured th e Brahmanthroughout and kept th e castes apart by prohibiting
membersofone e ating and drinking with, or marry
ing, those ofanoth er the y de alt minute ly with th e
32 FAI THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VALS .
dutie s to be performed by e ach class in the ir dailylife and e spe cially laid down those for th e Brahmans
through e ach stage of the ir existence .
Th e rule s were re corded inmore than fifty codes
of law, calle d Dharm S hastras, or S atras. Abouttwenty are still extant and , of the se , t h e Code ofM ann ,
compiled, or at any rate commence d, be foreth e Christian era ,
-is by far th e ,most important th e
Yajnavalkya Code takes th e se cond ‘place and follows.
th e main principles of its pre de ce ssor.
Th e Code of Mann conta ins twe lve books and
the ir subje cts are conveniently classified under six
heads
1 . Veda— true knowledge and re ligion.
2 . Vedanta or Admam’
dya—general philo
$0phy .
3 . Acara—establish ed custom ,including
caste Observances, the divisionsof a Brahrnan
’
s life and domesticceremoni e s.
4. Vyavahara—monarchical government,
civil and criminal law.
5. Prayas-chz
'
t— rule s of penance .
6. Karm-phdl—conse quence of
transmigration .
On th e occasion of e very re ligious and domesticceremony th e Hindu isre quire d by these lawstomakean offering to th e Brahm ans and h e is led to be lievethat hi s de ath at an espe cially holy place
,such as.
Benare s, Hardwar, orKuruksh etra , will result in hisimmedi ate e levat ion to a higher caste , or e ven in
DHARM SHAS TRAS . 33
his absorption at once into t h e Gre at Essence . Itis th e duty ofHindus to contribute towards th e cost
of construction or upke ep of holy e difices, bathing
ghats, and th e like . By the se m e ans sacred place sare mainta ined , and th e priestly class re ce ive the ir
sustenance .
Th e following twe lve Sa‘
nskdrds, or purificatory
rites, are pre scribed in Mann for cleansing a person
from hereditary S in
I .
Z.
3.
4.
9.
I O.
Garbh adhana , t h e ceremony on conce p
tion .
Pansavana , on first indication of pregnancy .
S imanto‘
mayana ,arranging th e mother’s
hai r.
fata-karrnan ,fe eding an infant with honey
and gh ee at birth.
Nama-karana , naming on th e tenth or
twe lfth day after birth.
Nish-kramana ,taking t h e child out to
se e th e sun and moon in t h e 4th month.
Anna-prasana ,fe eding th e infant with
rice be twe en th e sth and 8th month .
Cnda-karman , or Canla, tonsure , except
one look on th e crown,in th e zud or
3rd ye ar.
Upanayana , investiture with th e sacre d
thre ad .
K asanta , cutting off th e hair, of a .
Brahman at 1 6, of a Kshatriya at 22 ,
and of a Vaisya at 24 ye ars of age
34 FAI THS , FAIRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
1 1 . S amaoartana , when a student re turns
home after comple t ing h is studie s
under a guru.
1 2 . Vivaha , marriage .
These are not all fully observed and , while num
bers 7 and 1 2 are th e only rites to which Sudras are
admitted by th e codes, se veral of t h e others are
practise d by them .
Th e Cnda-karman le ave s t h e young child with
that remarkable little lock ofhair (sikha in Sanskrit ,
e hoti in Hindi, or kadnmi in Tamil) on th e crown
of th e he ad, which is t h e di stinguishing fe ature of
most Hindus.
Th e top of t h e he ad is regarded as sacre d and
as t h e re sidence ofth e de ity in th e human body and
t h e central point is some time s known as t h e top
e ye .
” That spot h as also be en thought to be t h e
fountain orsource of th e generating power of man ,
and th e tuft of hair is le ft so that it may remain
covere d and safe from defilement . Certain
S annyasi s, however, ke e p the ir heads entire ly bald,for they de clare that th e y are in union with God and
t here fore th e spot re quire s no prote ction they
a lso discard th e sacred thre ad forth e same re ason .
Wh en aHindu ch ild is born th e fatherwill sometimes sprinkle waterwith hisown tuft into th e mouth
of th e infant be fore looking at or handling it .
Th e sh aving'
or tonsure of t h e ch ild ’
s he ad is an
1mportant re ligious ceremony. An astrologer is
consulted to fix an auspicious day . During its
performance cocoanuts and bananas are offered
DHARIVI SHA S TRA S . 35
to an image of Gane sha (Pillayar) , son of S iva
(Iswara) , and cocoanut juice is sprinkled over th e
hai r, beginning with t h e central point t h e liqu id
so used be ing presente d as an offering to Parvati ,th e consort of Siva . Th e hair shaven off is placed
by some in a silver locke t which is tied to t h e child’
s
waist as an amule t against dise ase by others it is
pre served in an e arthenware pot .
If a succe ssion of children die , t h e next one will
have h is tuft kept at t h e back of t h e he ad and
finally , if h e surv ive s, it will be removed and another
a llowed t o grow in t h e usual position .
On th e occasion of t h e de ath of a married man
h is he ir cuts off t h e top-knot , in order to uncover
th e sacre d spot , and place s a pot ofwater upon it to
preserve t h e soul of th e de parted .
Th e top of th e he ad and t h e hair have be en
regarded as sacre d from very ancient time s, and
rite s in conne ction therewith are mentioned in t h e
scripture s of most religions.
In former days chie fs suspended scalps, to which
t h e si kha was attached , to the ir horses’
bridles and
t h e Scythians use d to carry those of th e men they
h ad killed in battle in this manner in order to claimthe ir share of booty . A warrior, with such a de co
ration on hi s bridle , was regarded as a hero, and this
is probably t h e origin of t h e knzz'
, or ornament
consisting of bunch e s'
ofhair, which, hangingbe low
t h e bridle , forms part of t he accoutrements of an
officer’
s charger in a cavalry regiment even to this
day.
36 FA I THS , FA I RS ,AND FE S TI VAL S .
Th e Upanayoma, or investiture with th e sacred
thre ad ,is performed on Brahmans in the ir e ighth
ye ar and on others at a later age . Th e sacred cord
(id’
una) of a Brahman must be ofcotton and consist
of thre e thre ads (tri -vm'
t) twisted to t h e right that
of others is made of hemp or wool with th e same
number of thre ads . Th e ceremony for a Brahman
is som ewhat . as follows
Th e boy face s t h e sun and then walks thrice
round th e fire after this, h e is taught by a Brahman
t o make thre e suppre ssions of t h e bre ath , to say
0m ,to repe at th e mystical words B hur, B huvar,
and 57411617 (thisworld , th e middle region , and he aven)and t o re ci te th e following prayer L e t us con
template t h e divine splendour of th e sun-
god , th e
donor of bliss t o all that h e may give us e very
kind of happine ss in th e Whole world . Th e thread
is thereupon place d over h is he ad and , be ing sup
ported by t h e le ft shoulder, hangs across th e body
t o t h e right h i p .
Th e word Om is full ofmystical significan ce .
Thoughtful Hindus regard it as divine and one to
be repe ated with holy musing. It is constituted
by thre e impulse s of t h e voice and made up of th e
soundsA , U (or V) , and M. Originally the se mayhave re ferre d to th e Vedic de itie s Agni, Varuna ,and Mitra ; to some th e le tters imply t h e thre eprincipal attribute s of th e Supreme Be ing , personified as Brahma, Vishnu , and S iva followers of th e
Vedanta philosophy consider them tome an Cre ation,
Meditation,and Eternal Happiness.
38 FA I THS ,FA IRS , AND FE S TI VA L S .
and all of the se service s payment in cash or kind
is made , a fixed allowance be inggrante d some time s
in addition ; h e is called th e Paroki t or Bkat .
Th e prie st oft h e temple take s care of t h e e difice ,its idols and furniture ; h e performs ceremonies
and conducts service s conne cte d with t h e de ity or
de itie s to whom it is dedicated and re ce ive s offerings
on the ir be half some time s a conside rable amount
of property ,in land or house s, is attached to a
temple , and th e he ad prie st will have a large e stab
lishment t o assist h im . In Bengal, th e hereditary
prie st of a Hindu temple is calle d Panda and underh im a pujari serves.
Th e he ad of a monastery is known as a M ahcmt
and h is disciple s as ch elas. There is a langar, or
public kitchen , attached t o this institution , wheret h e poor are fed ; also a number of quarters inwhich disciple s of th e brotherhood can lodge fre eof charge during the ir peregrinations.
Th e gum is perhaps th e most re spe cted of all
personage s and some time s re ce ive s homage amounting to de ificat ion notwithstandingWhat is writtenin th e Shastras it is now generally understood thatany Hindumay qualify forthisposition and ne ed notne cessarily be a Brahman ; it follows that botht h e highest and th e lowest castes have the ir gums
and , as t h e qualifications are se lf- imposed, manyof them h ave no title to act as re ligious te achersor to command e ste em .
Women—In Ve '
dic days women occupied a
position ofre spe ct many of them were inte lle ctual,
IND U WOMEN . 39
and some distinguished themse lve s by composingpoe try which h as come down t o th e pre sent day,but a gre at change came about with t h e rise of
Brahmanism . They were allotted no place among
t h e twice -born and although they have casteit ismere ly for social re asons. This is all t h e more
strange be cause women have a somewhat prom inent
position in Hindu mythology . To mention a few
instance s— there are Sarasvati , L akshmi , and t h e
te rrible Kali , godde sses re spe ctive ly of Spe e ch ,we alth , and de struction ,
and wives of t h e thre e
gre at gods of t h e trinity also t h e fair and v irtuous
S ita , famous for all time as t h e heroine of t h e
Ramayana . In t h e Code of Manu t h e gentle sex
is given a most inferior posit ion and tre ated much
as t h e serv ile class it allows a woman no right in
property ; h er duty is t o marry and be ar progeny ;sh e is t h e slave ofman— first under h er father, thenh er husband, and finally under h er sons ; e arly
m arriage is pre ached and yet a Widow may not
re -m arry .
Th e pan/duh system ,
which was borrowe d
large ly from th e Musalmans‘
,h as prov ide d an exist
ence for Hindu ladies, whi ch is practically life longimprlsonment and restra ins them from exercisingmind and body . There is a certain amount of indul
gence on occasions of re ligious gatherings, but it
is re ally only among t h e rustic and t h e lower classe s
that a Hindu woman h as any fre edom , and even
among them th e widow is de spised and sometime s
ill-tre ated.
40 FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
During t h e latter part oi th e last century ,howe ver, e fforts were by some Hindus to
advance t h e status of the ir womanhood in India ,and it is to be hope d that the se tiny springs willdeve lop until t h e tide of knowledge and fre edomflows into t h e zem mas throughout this vast and
wonderful country .
CHAPTER V.
THE EPIC POEMS .
ACCORDING to legendary history there wereoriginally two gre at line sofrulers inNorthern India,name ly, th e Solar and Lunar dynasties.
Th e Solar kings had the ir capital at Ayodhya ,in th e modern prov ince of Oudh , and are said to
have originated from th e Sun , if not from th e divine
Brahma himse lf . Th e Lunar monarchs ruled th e
country to th e north-west in th e ne ighbourhood
of th e pre sent D e lhi , and they were be lieved to
have h ad the ir de scent from th e Moon .
Narrative s of these royal races are to be foundin two famous Epic Poems. One of these , t h e
Ramayana , re cords th e wonderful adventure s of
c ertain members of t h e Solar race and de als with
an e xpedition made by them into Southern India
and Ceylon it consists of about lines divide d
into seven part s, and is sa id to have be en compose d
by a poe t named Valm iki , wh o isbe lieved to have
resided ne ar th e confluence of th e Gange s and
Jumna . Th e other is th e M ahabharata , an enormous
colle ction of legends in verse , composed at various
time s by a number of authors ; it contains about
lines in e ighte en se ctions, e ach ofwhich would
fill a huge volume ,and it forms a cyclopaedia of
Hindu mythology and philosophy, besides giving
42 FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FE S TI VAL S .
a long de scription of t h e Struggles for supremacy
be twe en two branches of th e Lunar dynasty.
Th e story runs that K ing D asarat h a ,re igning
at Ayodhya, has two sons, Rama and Lakshmana ,
by h is wife Kausalya , and one , named Bharata ,by hi s other wife Kaikeyi .While Rama is still a youth h e enters into a
compe tition to bend t h e m iraculous bow of Siva
th e De stroyer, which is in t h e posse ssion of Janaka,king of t h e ne ighbouring State of Mith e la (North
Behar'
and Tirhut) h e prove s successful and wins
Sita ,th e king ’s most be auti ful daughter, as h is
bride , for sh e is t h e prize .
Now,in an absent moment , Dasarat h a h as
promised to grant Kaikeyi any two boons which
sh e may desire , and t h e lady , be ing je alous of th e
favoured e lde st son Rama ,be thinks h er of
demanding his banishment for fourte en ye ars toth e forest of Dandaka and t he installation of her
son Bharata in h is ste ad . D asarath a h as to complyand dire cts Rama to le ave . Th e young princeaccordingly se ts out with h is lov ing wi fe S ita and
h is brother L akshmana , wh o insists on accom
panying them .
Some li ttle time afterwards t h e sorrowing fatherdies of grie f, and Bharata , who de clines to succe edto t h e throne , goe s Off in se arch of Rama h e findshim at Citrakuta on t h e bank of th e river Pisuni ,and ende avours to persuade h im to re turn to h is
THE RAMAYANA . 43
kingdom, e ven offering to continue th e banishment
in h is place . Rama , however, remaining firm ,
re fuses to disobey th e order of h is de ce ased father,and insists on comple ting th e fourte en ye ars. At
length Bharata goe s back to Ayodhya and carrie s.
on t h e government in h is brother’
s name , but h e
ne ver passes an order without first saluting Rama’
s.
shoes, which h e h as taken with h im .
After this,Rama , S ita , and L akshmana wander
about for t e n ye ars until one day they me e t a sage ,
name d Agastya ,in th e Vindya Mountains and ,
acting on h is advice , take up the ir re sidence at a
place called Pancavat i on th e Godaveri . This
ne ighbourhood is infe sted with demons, and staying
with them is t h e female demon Surpa-naka ,
sisterof Ravana , th e terrible many—he ade d demon
king of Ceylon ; unfortunately sh e falls in love
with Rama , and ismuch annoyed be cause h e re j e cts.
h er advances. Out of spite sh e make s an attack
upon S ita , but is se en by L akshmana, wh o promptly
cuts off h er nose and e ars. Smarting with pain
and indignation , Surpa-naka rushe s off to h er
‘
brother, inspires h im with a passion for S ita , and
incites h im to carry h er off. This is done by me ans.
of a mag ic aerial car, called Push paka ,and t h e
assistance of another demon Marica , wh o,in t h e
shape of a de er, entice s Rama and Lakshmana .
away ,wh ile Ravana in the ir absence abducts t h e
love ly S ita .
He takes h er to Ceylon in his car and there ,by me ans of bribe s and thre ats, attempts to induce
44 FAI THS ,FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
h er to be come h is que en , but without avail . At
length sh e is handed over to female demons forstarvation and torture , but is sustained throughout
this orde al with nourishm ent sent by th e gods.
Me anwhile , Rama and his brother are making
gre at preparations for h er re scue . They first
fight and de fe at a he adle ss demon name d Kabandh a ,and then make an alliance with Sugriva , king of
th e monkeys, who lends them his force s, under
th e command of th e monkey-
general Hanuman ,
for th e attack on Ravana .
Th e difficulty of crossing over to Ceylon is
overcome by th e monkeys, wh o fly through th e a ir
and bring rocks from e very dire ction to form a
bridge ; e ven portions of t h e Himalayas are sent
down by th e gods and a passage is safe ly e ffe cte d .
A battle rOyal now commence s in which th e
gods all assemble to fight against a mighty array
of demons. At a certain stage Rama advances ina chariot Spe cial ly lent h im by Indra, and engage sin single combat with th e powerful Ravana in h is
magic car th e two armie s stay the ir fight and look
on at t he due l, whi ch continue s for se veral days.
Rama, after cutting off dozens of he ads from hi s
Opponent , discovers that others promptly grow in
the ir place and that h e is invulnerable in that
quarter nothing daunted, h e obtains a thunderbolt
from Brahma“
; and discharges this into th e bodyof h is enemy, with th e re sult that th e terribled emon-monarch succumbs on
’
th e spot and victoryi s his.
46 FAI THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Now Pandu le ave s behind h im five sons, calle d
Pandavas after th e ir father, and h is brother h as a
hundred sons, all of bad character, who are terme d
Kauravas after an ancestor named Kuru . Th e
t wo se ts of brothers live toge ther under th e care
ofD hrita-rashtra , but th e Kauravas be come j e alous,be cause Yudh i-sh th ira ,
t h e e ldest of t h e Pandavas,
h as be en proclaimed he ir to th e throne . At length
t hey manage to persuade the ir father to e xpe l
the ir five cousins, wh o,after wandering in t h e
jungles, arrive at th e court of Drupada , king of
Pan chala . This monarch happens to be holdinga tournament (svayamvara) , and , as was not
uncommon in those time s, t h e chi e f prize is t h e
hand ofh is daughter, a very beautifulmaiden name d
Draupadi . Arjuna , one of“
th e Pandavas, a gre at
warrior and a youth of much force of character,wins th e
‘ fair lady, and , curious to re late , sh e
b e comes th e common‘
wife of th e five brothers. (It
may be note d that t h e practice of polyandry e xists
at t h e present day among certain hill-tribe s in
India) . Shortly after this event , t h e Pandavasare re called from exile and th e kingdom is div ided
be twe en them and th e Kauravas th e latter re ta ining certain territory around Hast inapura and the ircousins rece iving th e province of Indra-prastha
(ancient De lhi ) :
Th e Kauravas, howe ver, do not le ave the irre latives in. pe ace ; they invite th e five brotherst o a gambling fe stival at the ir capital and thenc onspire to cheat Yudh i-sh th ira in a game ofdice .
THE MAHABHARATA . 47
He stakes and lose s e verything , including h is
kingdom and even t h e lady Draupadi . Th e old
father of t h e wicke d K auravas compe ls them to
re store the ir immoral gains, but , dire ctly afterwards,further gambling i s arrange d and it ends by th efive brothers with the ir wife be ing compe lled to
re t ire into banishme nt for twe lve ye ars. Thisportion of t h e tale appe ars in t h e S abha -parvan ,
and t h e adventure s during banishment are de scribedin t h e Vana-parvan which follows.
Th e fourth se ction,or Virata -paavan ,
re late sh ow t h e Pandavas enter t h e service of a kingnamed
Virata during t h e ye arfollowing t h e period of the ir
e xile . After thi s, we re ad in t h e Udyoga-parvan , of
t h e vast preparat ions made for war be twe en t h e
cousins.
Th e ne xt four parts of t h e poem are devoted
t o a d e scription of t h e frightful battle which rage s
formany days be twe en th e Kauravas and Pandavas
on t h e Kuruksh e tra plain the se se ctions are name d
a fter t h e Kaurava generals B h ishma , Drona ,
Karna , and Salya ,and enter into m inute de tails as
t o how they re spe ctive ly me t the ir deaths.
In“
t h e m iddle of t h e B hishma-parvan is inserted
t h e B hagavad Gi ta , which give s an account of t h e
appearance of Krishna upon t h e scene and of h is
doings during th e struggle this poem is of much
later date than those of th e main story and is given
in t he form of conversation be twe en th e gay
god and Arjuna , one of th e five Pandavas and
the ir gre ate st le ader. In t h e remaining se ctions
48 FAI THS ,FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
fre que nt interpolations regarding Krishna h av
be en made .
Th e S alya—parvan contains a de scription of th e
concluding Operations of th e gre at fight , when
only thre e of t h e Kaurava brothers remain alive .
S aufiti ka-parvan , th e tenth part , give s de ta ils
of a night attack made by th e Pandavas, whichre sults in th e slaughter ofth e last thre e Kauravas.
Th e next se ct ion , S tri -parvan , is full of th e
lamentations of th e women- folk and th e funeralceremonies of th e departed he roe s.
Th e S anti -parvan re fers to th e coronation of
Yudh i -sh t h ira at Hast inapura , and enters into a
long serie s of le cture s by Bh ishma, wh o h as come
to life again ,as to th e be st me thods of government
and many other matters. These instructions are
contained in th e Anasasana , or thirte enth parvan,
whi ch towards t h e end announces t h e de ath of
Bh ishma ,t h e sage and warrior.
Th e remaining five se ctions re late h ow th e aged
Dhrit a -rash tra , with his que en Gandhari , and Kunti ,mother of t h e Pandavas, re tires to a forest , wherethey finally immolate themse lve s by fire in order
to se cure salvation how Krishna and h is family
me e t the ir end and h ow th e five Pandavas,with
the ir wife Draupadi , after remarkable adventures,finally make a marve llous ascent into th e he avenof Indra . There is a scene when king Yudhi ~sh thiraarrive s at th e he avenly entrance with h is favouritedog Indra naturally re fuses to adm it th e animal,but h e consents on satisfactory proof be ing furnished
ORI GIN OF THE EPI C POEMS . 49
that it is re ally an incarnation of Yama, t h e first
mortal , who has taken th i s form to prote ct th e hero
on e arth and later to conduct h is soul into he aven .
There is probably a substratum of truth inthese two Epic Poems. We can imagine that th e
Aryans wh o moved into th e Gange tic plains fromt h e ne i ghbourhood of ancient D e lhi and were
there ruled by members of th e Solar dynasty ,
undertook an e xpedition against th e aboriginals
(demons) of Southern India and thence against a
savage monarch in Ce ylon ; also that they van
qui sh ed th e enemy with th e assistance of other
primitive tribes (or monkeys) , who enable d t h e
invaders by some me ans or other to cross by wayof Adam
’
s Bridge .
It is also like ly that two branche s of th e so
cal led Lunar dynasty quarre lled over territory
and indulged in a bloody conflict in the vicini ty
of Kuruksh etra , where , throughout th e history of
India , so many decisive batt le s have be en fought .
Th e exploits of th e heroes of these campaigns
would naturally have formed t h e theme forlaudatory
poems, in which de eds and adventures, alre ady
enlarged upon by th e re turned warriors, were
exaggerated with poe tical license . These compo
sit ions must have re ce ived further embe lli shment
as they were re cite d through centuries, unt il at
length they were re corded by the Brahmans, who
gave them additional gloss and, what is more ,
provided them with re ligious shape .
CHAPTER VI .
HINDU DOMESTI C CEREMONIES .
THERE are a gre at many sem i-re ligious ceremonieswhich have to be performed by Hindus on t h e birthofchildren, duringchildhood , on inve stiture with th e
sacred thread , on th e occasion ofmarriage or de ath,and after th e de ath ofne arre lations.
Th e purificato’
ry rites re quire d for a Brahman
have already be en mentioned in Chapter IV,
and many of these are now imitated by other
caste s and classes, while new. ceremonies have be en
introduced from time to time .
Chi ldhood.—On t h e birth of a child th e fat h er
holdsa re ception and presentssugarand sugar-candy
to re latives and friends.
!
On t h e roth or 1 2 t h day
t h e mother is anointed with se samum oil, after th emanner of t h e Old Te stament , and on th e same day
th e ch ild re ce ives its name—perhaps that of one of
i ts ancestors, or one se le cted to ward off small-pox,
or to ple ase one of th e gods—it be ing written by th efather three times with a golden ring in unhusked
rice spre ad on a plate . There after money is
distri buted to t h e poor, while friends and re lativesare entertained . Th e child is put into a cradlefor th e first time on th e evening of th is day, and th e
gue sts depart after having blessed th e infant and
HIND U DOMES TI C CEREMONI ES . 51
a fter re ce iving be te l-nut and bananas or otherre freshment .
On th e birth ofa girl there is very little re joicing,fi or d aughters cannot carry on th e ceremonie snecessary for the ir ancestors’ souls and they are
regarded as e xpensive luxuries.
At five months of age t h e ceremony of choulam
o ccurs, and th e lobes of th e e ars are pierced with athin gold ring .
Anna-prasana , or giving rice for t h e first time ,
occurs be twe en th e fifth and e ighth month, and,
both then and on th e occasion of choulam, guests
are entertained .
Th e first birthday is an occasion of festivity
th e chi ld is then anointed , de corated with ornaments,and,
in th e evening , pre sented to a de ity at th e
local temple .
Th e shaving oft h e he ad , or tonsure , is performed‘during th e se cond or th ird ye ar on a propitious
d ay se lecte d by a Brahm an after consulting th e
stars (see Chapter IV) .
When a boy is five ye ars old h is father fixes a
lucky day for th e commencement of hi s teaching
and a private instructor is chosen, or h e is sent to
t h e local infants’
school .
In th e se venth orninth ye ar t h e youth is investedwith th e sacred thre ad , as alre ady described .
These are t h e principal ceremonies of childhood ,
but there are many others and , at one and all,
Brahmans h ave to be fed , while it is customary alsot o entertain friends and re lations.
-FAI THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Marriage .—Marriage is a sacred duty for t h e
Hindus, except , of course , formen of those re ligiousse cts th e rulesofwhich require ce libacy no ordinaryman is considered respe ctable until h e is married ,and parents incur th e antipathy of th e gods and
Opprobrium in th e eyes of the ir ne ighbours ifthey fail to marry off the ir daughters.
As there are generallymore women thanmen,it is
some times difficult to se cure a suitable husbandfor a girl in fact large sums often have to be paidto do so. What with this and t h e cost of entertaining friends, re lations, and Brahmans, th e eXpenditure more often than not is out of all proportionto th e statusofth e father ; inde ed it is quite common
for a man to borrow to th e full e xtent of h is credit
and to mortgage , or e ven se ll, all h is property inorder t o raise a sum , e quivalent to several years’
income , to squander on th e wedding of one of h is
daughters.
Thi s insane custom h as led not only to polygamy,but also to female infanticide , child marriage , andth e prohibition of widow re -marriage , while th e
abhorrent practice of suites (immolation of widowswith the ir de ce ased husbands) e xist e d until it wasprohibited by th e British Government .
It has also re sulte d in an inordinate desire for
boys to be born instead ofgirls, and to every atten
tion be ing paid to th e former while th e latter are
negle cted.
Th e match-maker for most castes is th e familybarber, but some times a Brahman is employed ;
54 FA I THS ,FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Th e bridegroom ne xt unties t h e two tre sses of
h er hair, one on e ach side of th e bride ’
s he ad , and?
announces that sh e is “ le t loose from t h e fe tters
of Varuna . After this sh e takes seven steps
towards th e north-east for energy, strengt h, we alth,he alth, offspring , fair weather, and friendship .
Further wishes having be en expre ssed regarding:devotion and th e production of sons, water from]
.
th e jar is sprinkled over both the ir he ads brought
close toge ther.
Th e bridegroom should remain that night in th eabode of an old Brahman woman , whose husband
‘
and children are alive .
When t h e bride se es th e Polarstar in conjunct iont
with Am ndhati (one of th e Ple iade s) and t h e seven .
Rish is (th e seven stars ofth e Great Be ar) sh e should .
bless h er husband and pray for children .
Th e bridegroom should give away th e bride ’S~
dress to one wh o knows t h e Surya S akta (RigVeda X,
Th e ceremonie s close wi th a fe ast to th e .
Brahmans.
A marriage se ldom takes place among Hindus
during th e four months of th e rainy se ason, for
during that period th e Gre at Preserver is down
on a visit to Raja Bali and cannot there fore bless
th e contract with h is divine pre sence .
In some parts of India curious customs exist
ofmarrying two tre e s, or a stone to a tre e orbush.
Salagrams, or stones containing fossil impressionsof ammonites and
'
considered to be representat ions
HIND U DOMES TIC CEREMONI ES . 55
of Vishnu,are some t ime s married to th e tulaszf
(Ocymum sanctum) , a small sacred shrub th e stone
will be taken in procession to th e shrub and all th e
ceremonies of an ordinary marriage performed .
Th e legend of th e Nerbudda river is quaint ,and shows h ow inanimate Obje cts are some time s
regarded as living be ings
Th e River Son,which rises ne ar th e source of
th e Nerbudda not far from Amarkantak, flows we st
for some mile s and then , suddenly turning to th e
e ast , is joined by a small stre am called th e Joh ila ,
before it falls over a gre at cascade .
Th e legend runs that th e Son was be trothed to
Miss Nerbudda and was proce eding with a barat
(marriage proce ssion) to fe tch h is bride ; sh e was
curious to se e what h e was like and sent little Miss
Joh ila to Spy . Son met this young lady and fe ll
in love with h er so MissNerbudda got in a furious
temper, threw rocks about and , with a terrific kick ,sent them bounding over th e pre cipice towards
th e e ast , wh ile sh e proce eded in t h e Opposite dirco
tion.
Th e Nerbudda , like most of t h e other rivers in
India, is a de ity, and in one ofh ertemples there is astatue of Miss Joh ila bound in chains.
Death Ceremoni es—Th e funeral rite s of Hindus
vary considerably, but it is an almost invariable
pract ice to cremate t h e corpse and to throw th e
ashes, or a port ion of them , into th e Ganges or
some other sacre d river. If the re lat ives are
we althy they spend a gre at de al over costly fue l,
56 FAI THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VALS .
lengthy ceremonies, feasts and gifts to th e Brah
mans, but, if poor, a few rupe es will cover th e
e xpenses.
According to th e Shastras t h e burning ground
should be se le ct ed at a spot which should be south
e ast or southw e st of th e de ceased ’
s residence .
After the hair and nails have be en clippe d off, th e
corpse is carried here on a litter in procession th e
nearest re lations follow in single file , oldest beh ind
and th e men separate d from t h e women th e other
mourners, e ldest first and youngest after, bring
up th e re ar, with the ir sacrificial cords and clothes
hanging down and the ir hair disheve lled .
On arrival at t h e spot t h e le aderof th e ceremony
sprinkles th e body with holy water and repeats
Rig-Veda X, . D epart (ye evil spirits)slink away from he re th e Fathers (ance stors) have
made for h im this place of rest , distinguished by
days (ahobhir), waters (adbh ir) , and bright lights
Th e logs for th e fire are piled up and on th e topa layer. of swe e t-scente d grass is spread , t h e wholebe ing kept in position by iron stakes. A goat isnow ki lled and skinned, and th e corpse , covered
wi th a fine white cloth, is carried thrice round the
funeral pile and finally deposited on it , togetherwith th e clippe d hair and nails, th e skin ofth e goat,and various other articles. Holy water is Sprinkledand texts repe ated .
At this stage th e widow advances, with her
husband’s sword if h e was a soldier, and lies down
HIND U DOMESTI C CEREMONIES . 57
by th e logs. Her brother- ih -law, or an old servant ;t hereupon summons h er to arise by repeating
Rig-Veda X, Ri se O woman, re turn to th e
world oflife , thou art re clining by a corpse . Thou
hast fulfilled thy duties to th e husband wh o
married thee and led the e by t h e h an Th e
same person removes th e sword and gives instruc
tions for t h e fires to be lighted . This is done in
t hre e different places at t h e same time ; to th e
south-e ast is th e Ahavam'
ya fire ,which sends
t h e de ad man’
s spirit to he aven if it reache s firstto th e north-west is Garhapatya , which conveys it
to th e middle region ; and south-west is Daksh ina ,
which ke eps it in t h e world of mortals.
When th e fire h as burnt itse lf out th e leader of
t h e ceremonies repe ats Rig-Veda X, We
living men, survivors, now re turn and leave th e
d e ad may our oblations ple ase t h e gods and bring
us blessings now we go to dance and j est and hope
for longer life .
The funeral party then proce ed to bathe and,
on coming out of th e water, put on fresh clothe s.
They ‘
should not re turn to the ir homes unt il th e
sun h as set , and be fore entering the ir houses should
purify themse lve s by touching fire , a stone , cow
dung , barley, oil, and water. There are spe cial rules
a s to what food they are to eat during th e next few
days.
Afterth e tenth day oft h e dark half ofth e month,and on an odd day th e ashes are gathered and
p laced in a vase ,which is covered with a lid and
58 FAI THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
buried in th e e arth . When this h as be en done th e
re lations re turn home and , after washing , offer a
sraddha , or offering to th e de ce ased . Brahmans
are then fe asted and gifts are pre sented to them .
These are th e rite s laid down in t h e Smarta
S hastra , but nowadays th e favoured place for th e
cremation ceremony is t h e bank of a sacred river
th e ashe s are consigned to t h e waters and not as a
rule buried in th e earth . It is also a practice for
one of th e re lations to fracture th e skull of th e
de ce ase d during t h e burning in order to facili tate
th e e scape of t h e spirit . Gosains, howe ver, do not
cremate , but bury the ir de ad .
Th e practice of sattee does not appe ar to have
be en dire cted in any of th e ancient Shastras ; inRig
-Veda x, it isdistin ctly ordered that th ewidow is to come back from t h e funeral p ile , andthere isnothing in th e Veda to authorize th e burning
of th e widow with h er de ce ase d husband . It se emsto be t h e remnant of a Scythi an custom which h as
mostly be en followed by races ofTartar origin.
CHAPTER VI I .
HrNDU GOD S or To-DAY.
IT is not an e xaggeration to state that there are
many millions of gods and goddesses in th e Hindu
panthe on, and ye t there are not millions of gods,
but one G od for, if we question an ordinary Hindu
about any matter regarding which h e de sires to
express ignorance , h is reply will be Khada y'
anta ,
God knows or, if we Spe ak to a Hindu asce tic ,as like ly as not we shall re ce ive no answer in words,but , inste ad , h e will point one finger upwards
towards th e he avens, as though to imply that h e
cannot be interrupted whi le h e is meditating upon
th e One God .
”
It h as alre ady be en mentioned that th e Aryansse em t o have be lieved originally in one God, but
that t his de ity was gradually Split up into a number
of others. We have se en that , in th e course of time ,
th e name s of t h e principal gods were altere d and a
triumvirate , or trini ty , was formed also that there
were numerous offshoots from th e members of thi s
trinity . To these were added myriads of minor
de itie s, including good and evil spirits, demons and
fairies, obj e cts animate and inanimate ; many Of
which were borrowe d from the pre-Aryan be lie fs.
New de ities also took shape from ide as put forward
by philosophers. All of these new gods, combined
60 FAI THS ,FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
with many of t h e old ones in the ir original or in
corrupted shapes, form th e amazingmass ofHindu
mythology of th e present day .
Th e Trimurtz'
, or trinity , consists of B rahma,
t h e Cre ator Vi shnu, th e Pre server and S iva ,'
t h e D estroyer the se thre e be ing manife stations
of Brahma th e all-pervading D ivine Essence .
’
Brahma generally appears as a red or orange
c oloured figure with four he ads. Some say that h e
once possessed five , but one was cut off by S iva
be cause h e would not acknowledge h is supe riority
asVishnu h ad done ; others de clare that this punish
ment was inflicted upon h im be cause of h is attempt'
t o seduce h is daughter Sarasvati , t h e goddess
of le arning , whom h e e ventually m arrie d . He h as
also four arms,in one of which h e holds a spoon ,
in another a string of be ads, in t h e third a water
vesse l, and in th e fourth t h e Veda . He is frequently
attende d by h is vahan , or'
vehicle ,’
t h e hansa ,
r
?-or w .
Brahma is not one of t h e popular gods and there
are few temples Spe cially de dicated to h im , but h e
is particularly re vere nced at Pakh er in Ajmer and
a t Bithur in t h e Doab , where at t h e Brahmavarta
G hat the re is a large annual mela (fair) h is image s
are , however, some time s placed in th e temples of
o ther gods and worshipped with them.
Sarasvati is th e wife , or sakhti (female energy) ,of Brahma and is analogOus in
’
Western mythologyt o Minerva, t h e patroness of le arning . Sh e is th e
goddess of music , poetry, le arning, and e loquence ,
62 FAI THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Vishnu, regarde d as time , corre sponds with th e
Florus of Egypt . Th e legends of h is sle eping ,
awaking, and turning on h is side , evidently allude
to th e sun at th e solstices ; also to th e phenomena
ofth e overflow and re ceding oft h e Ganges, so similar
to that of th e Nile in Egyp t . He is fabled to arisefrom h is slumber of fourmonths on t h e n th or th e
1 4th of t h e bright half of th e lunarmonth Kart ik.
When this period is half over h e is suppose d to turnhimse lf on his side on t h e n th of Bhadra .
Vishnu is represented of a black or blue colourh e possesses foura rms and holds a club with whi cht o punish th e wicked ; th e chonk, or she ll , is for
sounding on joyful occasions ; th e whirling chakra
shows h is universal domination and th e lotus, or
water lily , typifies h is creative power. Th e chakra ,
or discus, resembles a whe e l or quoit , a sort of
missile we apon whirle d round t h e middle finger
and used as a we apon of war. Some times he is
se ated on a throne compose d of t h e sacred lotus,with his favourite wife , Lakshmi, in h is arms ; or
standing be twe en h erand h is oth erwife , Satyavama ,
on a lotus at others h e re clines on a lotus le af or
on th e serpent , ananta (e ternity) , floating on th e
water ; or h e rides on his vahan (vehicle ) garuda .
No sanguinary sacrifices are offere d to h im , and
h e is regarded as a house hold and pe ace ful god .
Lakshmi is goddess of be auty, love , prosperity,intelle ct , and Spe ech sh e isSpoken ofasomnipresent ,th e e ternal mother of t h e universe . It is said that
sh e issued from th e ocean of milk, when it was
HINDU GODS . 63
churned by th e demons and gods thereupon sh e
was crowne d and , be ing adorned with heavenly
j ewe ls and a wre ath of everlasting flowers, wasre ce ived in th e arms of Vishnu as h is bride . Sh e
be came incarnate in Sita , th e chaste and be autifulwi fe ofRama , and in Rukmini and Radha , th e wifeand favourite mistress, re spe ctive ly, of Krishna .
Radha is considered a lucky name forwomen, and
such name s as Radha Krishna ,Lakshmi Narain,
Ram Narain , Ram Chand , Bishan (Vishan) Chand,and Jagganath are common among men .
Th e principal fe stivals, in which Vishnu, h is
incarnations, or h is wives are worshi pped are
Anant Ch audash , Janam-Ashtami (Krishna’
s birth
day) , Dusse hra and Ram Lila (Rama’
s victory) ,D iwali and Basant Panchmi .
Siva, Sh iva, or Mahadeo, is t h e third god of th e
Hindu triad and is worshipped by th e Saiva se ct ,wh o form th e gre ater number ofHindus. Magni
ficent temples have be en ere cted throughout India
in h is honour, and in almost e very village may be
se en th e small shrine called a S h ivala , whi ch is built
for hi s propitiat ion and worship, usually by a bumia ,or grain merchant .
’ These buildings invariably
contain th e linga , th e creative emblem of S iva,in t h e shape of a rounde d stone or lump of clay, .
surrounde d some t ime s by a circularridge of clay to
represent th e female symbol yam; outside one of
t hese small shrine s there often appe ars th e image of
a bull (Nanda) , which is sacred to this god in h is
constructive capacity.
FAI THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
S iva is known by a large v arie ty of name s,
amongwhich isChiun, a god ment ioned in t h e Book
ofAmos (Chap . V. 25, Hisattributes are many .
As t h e destroyer h e is named Isa or Isvara ,Rudra ,
Hara Sambhu , Mahadeva or Mahesha . He is also
Fire and th e Sun, th e destroyer and generator.
As t h e de ity presiding over generation h is
emblem is t h e linger, like t h e phallus of Egypt ,Gre e ce , and Rome . He usually carrie s a tri sula
(trident) to repre sent th e trinity. He is depicted as
of white colour, with reddish hair, and possessingtwo, four, e ight , or t en hands and five faces. This
god and hi s ti t/dim s have a third eye on th e fore he ad ,with th e corners up and down, and h e is commonlyshown bede cked with serpents as emblems ofe ternity !
and wearing a ne cklace of human he ads to markh is character of destruction.
Th e lingo; isnevercarried in procession, but small
claymode lsofit are made on t h e banksofth e Gange sand thrown into th e river after worship . Image sof S iva in h is many other forms are conveyed
through t h e stre e ts of Calcutta and other places.
after t h e fe stivals in h is honour and cast into th eriver.
Kali .—S iva ’
swife Kali , as goddessof destructionand darkness, is truly awful in h er actions, be ingresponsible for almost every evil under th e sun ;
but as Durga sh e appe ars in h er cre ative form and
is a more ple asant de ity . Sh e h as a varie ty of
names, such as Parvati, Devi , Bhairavi, and
Uma .
HIND U cop s. 65
Kali is usually shown as of black or dark bluecolour, trampling on th e body of S iva in one handsh e holds a blood-stained sword and in th e ot her
a gory human he ad a third hand points downwardsto de struction and th e fourth is raise d in allusionto a new cre ation . Sh e we ars a ne cklace of human
he ads, and h er portrait can be immediate ly.
re cog
nised by its awfulness.
Durga, whose emblem is t h e yom’
,h as t en arms
in one hand is a Spe ar with which sh e is piercing
th e a , in another a sword in a third
th e hair of tail of a serpent which
is twine d round h im , and in others, a trident ,discus, axe , club , arrow, and a shi e ld . One of h er
fe e t presses on th e body of th e giant and th e '
otherre sts on th e back of a lion whi ch is biting t h e
giant ’s arm . Sh e we ars a magnificent crown and
richly jewe lle d dre ss. Th e giant is issuing fromt h e body of th e buffalo, into which h e h ad
transformed himse lf during th e combat . In thisbusy posit ion is th e goddess represented at th e
Durga Pm’
a, accompanie d by h er two sons Ganesha
and Skanda and others.
Ganesha, th e son of S iva and Durga, is th e god
of prudence and policy and the patron of le tters.
Although there are very few edifices Specially dedj
cated to h im,hi s image , in th e shape of a short
“
;
fat , red-coloure d man with a large b elly and
th e he ad of an e lephan t , is to be found in most
temples. He is invoked by many Hindus on th e
commencement of'
a business, th e building of a
5
66 FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
house ,or th e beginning of a journey ; t h e words
Sm; Ganesh will be found written on th e fiyleaf of
many a n account-book and often at th e he ad of
bankers’ le tters ; h is image , painted orsculptured, isfrequently to be se en in , or over, th e shops of
bankers and others, and over th e doorways of
dwe lling-h ouses one of th e gates of a Hindu city
is: generally named after h im inde ed there is no
othergod ofth e Hindu panthe onwh o isso fre quently
seen and addressed .
Ganesha is often accompanied by a rat, and is
s'
ome t imes'
sh own riding upon one of these animals,
whi éli are regarde d by Hindus as sagacious and
prudent“
. It is thi s unfortunate fact which
preserve s th e rat from de struction. Thisgod generally h as four arms, but occasionally six or e ight
,
orperhaps only two when there are four, one holdsth e ankus, or hook for guiding . th e e lephant,another a shell, in th e third is a coni cal ball, and int h e fourth a ve sse l conta ining small cake s. Beside sbe ing ine le gant in figure h e is also a poore que strian,
and t h e story goes that , on one occasion,when
h e fell off h is ste ed, th e Moon, wh o was looking on,
fell alangh ing Gane sha lost hi s temper and placeda curse upon h er and upon all who Should gaze uponh er the re after , lucki ly h e was persuaded to modifythis, and now it applie s only to those who happent o glance at h er on the ir birthdays.
'
Skanda, also known as Kart ikeya , is t h e se condson of S iva . He is th e god ofwar and is re garded
by th ierres as the ir patron ! He . i s variously
HIND U GOD S . 67
depicted as posse ssingone orsix face s two, four, orsix arms, e ach ofwhich holds a warlike instrument .
His mother Parvati gave h im a pe acock which ist h e w hen of this warlike div ini ty.
Yama, in Hindu mythology, is th e king ofde athand he ll and Pi tripati , or Lord of t h e Ancestors.
’
He is described as of a gre en colour, with red gar
ments, having a crown on hi s he ad, his eye s inflamed ,and S itting on a buffalo, with a huge club and push
(a cord or r0 pe with whi ch to strangle sinners) inh is hands. His countenance , as se en by t h e
v irtuous, is divine but t h e' wicked, when judged
by h im, se e nothing but terror.
Yama is t h e Smddha-deva , or Lord of
Obse quies’. At t h e time of offering oblation to th e
mem es (spirits) of de ce ase d ancestors, h e is invoked
by th e prie st under numerous names, such as
Dharma Rajah !
(king of th e”
de itie s) , Antaka (th e
d e stroyer) , Kala (time ) . D aily offerings of water
are made to Yama and th e se cond day ofth emonthofKartik lS sacre d to h im and h is sister, the river
goddess Yamana (Jumna) , wh o then entertained
h im . In conse quence of this, S istersmake pre sents
and offer de licacie s to the ir brothers on that day,
He is also worshi ppe d on th e 1 4th day of Asvin.
Sm ddha is th e ceremonial oblation in honour
of de cease d ance stors and is considered of gre at
importance by most Hindus.
Yama D ansh tm (Yama’
s te e th), whi ch implies
t h e last e ight daysofASvin and t h e whole OfKartik,
i s considered to be a period of universal sickness,
68 FA I THS , FAIRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
and t h e jaws of de ath are be lieved to be open
during that t ime . Certainly th e de ath-rate in
India is generally highest then . Brahmans are
particularly energe tic in re ading th e Veda at that
season , so that the ir souls may be prepared in case
of a sudden call .
Kama or Kandarp, th e son of Maya , or th e
general attracting power, is th e god of love and
corresponds to Cupid .
‘
He was married to Rati ,or Affe ction,
’
and h is bosom friend wasVasanth a ,or Spring .
’
He is repre sented as a beaut iful youth
riding by moonli ght on a parrot , with an attendant
bevy of nymphs, one of whom carrie s h is standard,on which is depicted a fish on a red ground.
This banner may some times be se en in wed
ding proce ssions. His bow is made of sugarcane or flowers, the string is formed of be e s, andh is five arrows are pointed with strong-scented
blossoms.
It was Kama wh o, when scarce ly cre ated,inspired Brahmawith a passion forh is own daughterSarasvati but when h e amused himse lf by shooting
an arrow at Siva , wh o was engaged at t h e time inausteritie s, th is god be came so enrage d that h eglanced at h im with h is thi rd eye and therebyreduced h im to ashe s.
Prithvi , goddess of th e Earth, is by some 0 0 11 .
S idered a form of Lakshmi, by others of Parvati .Daily offerings are made to h er. Th e word means
conspicuous,”
so called be cause th e Lord of
Cre ation moulded it .
70 FAI THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Sendu B ir, or th e Wh istling Spirit ,’
is a
godling to whom Shrines are ere cted in Jammu ,
Kangra , and'
Gurdaspur. He is much fe ared byHindu cultivators, wh o be lieve that h e ste als
the ir corn and be longings to give to those wh o
worship h im , that h e burns t h e house s of those with
whom h e is disple ased, and that h e h as t h e powerof cohabiting, while they are dre aming,
with any
women to whom h e may be sent by persons wh ohave acquired mystic
~
charm from h im . He is
said’
to have t h e appe arance of a shepherd , and when
h is whistling is he ard it is de sirable to make copious
offerings for h is propitiation and to provide a ram
as h is ste ed .
Narsingh , or Anar S ingh ,is anothergodling of
some notorie ty in t h e Kangra district . He is
suppose d to be an incarnation of Vishnu , and is
somewhat mixed up wi th Krishna pe ople be lie veh im to be empowered to give sons to barren women
and to tide them over difficultie s. Women are h is
chie f adorers, and many of them ke ep . a cocoanut ash is emblem on th is they make a ti lak out ofsandal
wood paste and to it they pay re spe ct , generally
on a Sunday , by de corating it with flowers and
burnmg incense . Narsingh is also be lieved to
cohabit with h is female worshippers during the ir
dre ams.
Guga Sh eds. In many parts of Kangra may be
se en little sheds containing image s, among which th echie f is one ofa mount e d de ity named Guga . These
idols are supposed to have th e power of curing
HIND U GOD S . 71
snake -bite . Th e Brahmans wh o officiate at these
Shrines are care ful to de clare that th e god h asb e en
seriously offende d in some manner, when theyperce ive that a patient is beyond re covery .
Amman is a goddess much worshippe d by
villagers in th e south of India, wh o understand th e
word tomean mother sh e is de scribed asAnkal or
golden,
’
Kani , and Mut ial or pe arl ,’
Paleri or
gre at .
’
Th e Mahrattas know h er by t h e term
At, or mother.
’
Sacrifice s of she ep , goats and
fowls, cocoanuts, fruit , gh e e , and other things are
made to h er. Th e puy’
arz'
, or officiat ing prie st , is
generally of th e Sudra caste .
Hanuman, th e monkey-
god ,is a favourite in th e
central part of India , where many temples are
dedicated to h im , some time s in company with h is
companions Rama and S ita . He is supplicated by
Hindus on the ir birthdays, for h e is supposed to
have power to bestow longevity .
Varuna, th e gre at de ity ofVedic days, h as now
be come th e god of waters while I ndw h as gre atly
de clined in power and only pays periodical visits
to th e e arth.
Khwajr Kh izr, t h e patron saint of th e bhestis,
or water-carri ers of India ,is re ally of Musalman
origin, but isregarde d as god ofwater byHindus.
His principal shrine is at Sone pat near De lhi .
Sacred Rivers. Th e Gange s, Jumna , Nerbudda ,
Godaveri , and many other rivers and stre ams are
worshipped as de ities and so are many other
inanimate obje cts.
72 FA I THS , FAIRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Th e Ganges is th e goddess Ganga ofHindu
mythology. Th e Saivas place h er source in Sivafs
hair, but th e Vaishnavas assert that Sh e flowe d from
th e foot of Kri shna and fe ll on th e head of S iva ,
wh o shook some drops from h ishairand thus formed
th e great lake Bindu (drops) Sarovara . Some
allege that th e river issued from a cow’
s mouth and
th e gorge in th e Himalayas, through which it flows,is cal led Gao-mukhi (cow-mouth) and Gangotri .
One of t h e holie st parts of th e Gange s is where
it joinst h e Jumna ne arAllahabad, andhere annuallyoccurs th e Mugh M ela (t h e Fair of Magh) , th elargest re ligious fair in India .
Th e Ganga is described as a white woman witha crown on h er head, a water-lily in one hand, anda water-vesse l in another sh e rides upon a w hen,
whi ch resembles a crocodile , or walks upon th e
surface of th e waterwith a lotus in each hand.
Stone worsh ip e xists to a large e xtent in many
parts of India . In Southern“ India five stones,
daubed with red and calle d th e Panda ,are regarded
as guardians of th e fie lds. Ammonite s andme teortes are worshipped as repre sentative s of Vishnu .
There are many tre e s, shrubs, and plants whichare e ither sacred to th e gods, or are de itie s in
themse lve s inde ed almost every prominent obje ct—in the he avens above , in th e e arth beneath, or
in th e waters under th e e arth—is considere d worthyof worshi p
Th e Cow. Among living creatures, t h e cow is
the most sacred and h as long been so regarde d . Th e
HIND U GOD S .
73
Aryanwanderers in Central Asia must have regarded
h er with veneration , but , when they took to agriculture in the ir Indian se ttlements, cattle be cameof th e gre ate st importance to them ; for th e cow
supplied food and drink , while bullocks pulled
the ir carts and ploughs, drew up water from th e
we lls, and trod out or thre shed th e corn ; cattle
dungwas likewise found use ful , not only as manure ,
but also as fue l and for plastering th e walls, floors,and roofs ofhouse s. Th e bull was considered to bean emblem of creation .
All these points in favour of th e cow and bullstill hold good inde e d e very part of a cow is pro
nounced to be holy, and it is a fact that t h e e atingof th e five products, including even its excre ta ,
is re garde d as a Spe cial me ans of purification .
Every morning a woman in t h e householdsme ars t h e floors with cowdung mixe d with water,partly as a holy duty and partly for cle anline ss. Sh e
Sprinkles t he urine of t h e cow over h er he ad and
about th e house in purification , whenever anythingh as occurred to make it , in the irre ligion , uncle an .
Every morning, on rising, a Hindu should , if
possible , glance at a cow,a mirror, t h e sun, a rich
man ,a king , a prie st , a charitable person, and a
chaste woman . It is not , however, t h e cow’
s face
but its ta il , on which they cast the ir look , for th ere
is no merit in its face .
When a Hindu is dying , h is re lations some time s
give a cow to a Brahman and repe at th e gift on
t h e e leventh day afterth e demise . On th e occasion
74 FAI THS ,FA I RS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
ofa Brahman’
smarriage th e bride ’
s father is always
expe cted to present a cow. Every Friday th e cow
Sh ould be washed, and it is frequently ornamente d
with ti laks.
Among other creature s, which re ce ive respe ct
and often worship , may be ment ioned t h e monk ey,ce lebrated in t h e Ramayana th e fish ,
tortoise , and
boar, as incarnations ofVishnu th e wagtail , owing,
to emblematic marks on its throat , and th e peacock
th e snake and t h e conch she ll .There is a whole serie s of S ingha , or snake
gods and goddesses,’ which are re garded asde scend
ants oi a king ofPatal, . and it is be lieved by many
that th e Spirits of th e de ad some times enter snakes
and do a lot of harm . Shrines are built to them,
offerings of milk m ade , and prayers said , parti
cularly on Sundays and at weddings.
Sitala, or Mata , goddess of smallpox ,is t h e
chie f ofa group ofse ven sisters, wh o cause pustulous
dise ases and have to be propitiated regularly bywomen and children ; t h e names of th e other six
are Agwani , Basanti , L amkaria , Mahai Mai , Masani,and Polamdi . Small shrine s are built for themin th e v illages, and t he 7th day of Je th , calle d
S ili-satan or Sitala’
s seventh,’
is fixed for spe cialworship . If an infant dies of smallpox , t h e next
born will be given some obje ctionable name suchas Karri e (h e of t h e dung-hill) to frighten the se .
godde sses away . Th e day after th e Holi fe stivalis an auspicious occasion for ceremonie s in honourofS itala sh e is then placed upon
’
a potter’s donkey,
M YS TI C S I GNS . 75
which is led in proce ssion to th e shrine , where grainis wave d over th e he ad of a child and thereaftergiven to th e donkey and its master.
Among local gods in th e e ast of th e Punjab,
B humi a , god of th e homestead ,’ probably holds
th e chie f posit ion. He h as a small Shrine (kh era)ere cted in h is honour when a new village is built .Here th e women and children say prayers on a
Sunday here Brahmans are fed on th e occasion of
dome stic events and at harvest-time ; and h ere
oaths or statements made are considered as abso
lute ly binding .
Th e women have to beware of Gandarvas, a
kind of genii , wh o are fond of and dangerous tothem .
Th e Mystic Band . A common Sign,used by
pe ople of various denom inations in India ,is that
of t h e outstre tched hand . It is called by Hindus
t h e abhaya hasta (prote cting hand) or Dani ela
hasta (beneficent hand) and may be se en stamped
upon t h e walls of temples and houses to prote ct th e
inmate s against ill-luck , on bullocks to pre serve
them from disease , on sacred tre es worshi pped by
women, and on th e wall ofa room inwhich a maiden’
s
maturity ceremony takes place . It is usual for a
person to sme ar kankamu on h is hand and imprint
t h e mark on t h e walls of a fre shly constructed
building, both inside and out , or on th e walls of a
temple when a new idol is installed , and on clothes
at we ddings. Th e colours used are usually red or
ye llow .
76FA I THS ,
FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Th e Swastica is a pe culiar symbol or mystic
cross, used e spe cially in Tibe t by a se ct of that name
but also throughout India by Hindus. Th e word
is derived from SM (we ll) and astz'
(it is) , me aning
it iswe ll or so be it and implying comple te
resignation under all circumstances. This symbol
was used by th e Gre eks in de signs on the irpottery,and it is commonly worn in Europe as a charm in
th e shape of a pendant .
Th e Crescent is worn as a S ign by t h e god S iva
and hi s consort Parvat i, but it is extensive ly used
by Muslims on the ir banners and is th e we ll-known
emblem of Turkey.
Th e following list is taken from Prinsep’s
Useful Tables published in 1834.
r. Th e Infinite Almighty Cre ator, of t h e Vedas,Brahm
Th e Hindu Trini B rahma, Vishnu ,
ty , or Tri
murtiSaraswati , L akshm i ,The ir consorts
1 Sakti orMaya . Padm a or Sri ,
The ir attributes Cre ator,
Preserv er,The ir att endant Hansa (goose ), Garuda (bird ),
0 a'
h a n o r
vehicleThe ir symbols Tim e , Air,
The ir stat ions Meru ,
The ir common Param eswara ,
t i tles, A .U .M .
Figure 11 n d e r Mentally, Saligram andwhich w o r 9 avatam s,
shippe d
Analogue s i n Saturn, jupiter,
Western myth ology
CHAPTER VIII .
HINDU FESTIVAL S . (PART I .)
IN ancient days t h e Vedic poe ts h ad considerable
knowledge of astronomy , but t h e study of this
science , although continued by t h e Brahmans for
a long period , began to de cline when t h e Musalman
incursions commenced about 1 0 0 0 A .D . , and
nowadays Hindu astronomers are few and far
be twe en .
Th e date s for Hindu fest ivals were invariably
fixed in accordance with t h e posit ion of varioushe avenly bodie s at t h e time of events wh ich led tothem in this chapter, there fore , re ference will bem ade to th e 1uni -solarmonths in wh ich t h e festivalsoccur and a few words regardingth e Hindu Calendarwill not be out ofplace .
To begin with , it may be mentioned that‘Hindus
consider that there are four lengthy Yuga , or Agesof time , name ly
I st . Kri ta orS atya , th e Golden Age or that ofTruth,
’
which extends for a period of
ye ars and is in four parts.
zud . Th e Train Yugu, wh ich lasts forye ars. It h as thre e (treta) parts and is known as
t h e S ilverAge .
’
3rd . That of Dwapam (two parts) , extendingfor ye ars.
HIND U FES TI VAL S . 79
4th . Th e K ali Yugo or present Evil Age ,
’
whi ch h as a period of ye ars (one part) .
According to Bentley, wh o worked them out
on astronomical data , these Age s commence d
on th e 1 9th April 2352 , 28th October 1 528,
1 sth September 90 1 , and 8th February 540 B .C. ,
respe ctive ly .
Th e usual system of re ckoning dates is thatof t h e S amvat Era, founded in 57 B .C. by a kingnamed Vikramad itya Sakari to commemorate h isvictorie s over th e Scythians. Anotheris th e Sak aEra whi ch began in 78A .D . , and was in honour of
anoth erking called Salivahana , wh o likewise fought
aga inst the se invaders.
Th e name s ofth e months were taken from th e
nakshatm s, or asterisms,in which th e moon was
suppose d to be full at different times ofth e ye ar. In
some parts of India th e Hindu Calendar commence s
w ith th e month Vaisakh , but in Northern India it
begins with Ch aitm ~
It is, however, convenient to follow th e more
ancient divisions of time in describing th e principal
Hindu fest ivals ; that is, when th e ye ar opened
with Magh and t h e Spring festivities, and
c lose d with th e winter solstice in th e month of
Poh .
Th e Hindu divides th e year into six seasons,
e ach of two months, name ly—Vasanm (Spring),Greeshma (Summer), Varska (Rainy), Samd (Sultry),H emama (Cold) , and S isim (Dewy) .
FA I THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .80
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HIND U FE S TI VAL S . 81
Lunar days are called Ti thi , but th e solar days
of th e week are called Vam or Var and are named
after th e following plane ts, by adding th e affix
Var like day
Each day ofth e we ek h as a sacred significanceAditya me ans th e Gre at God , Surya and Ravi
me an th e Sun . Monday is e spe cially sacred to Siva,
and is observed by some as a fast th e lingo be ing
worshi ppe d in th e evening . Saturday 15 Hanuman’
s
day it is regarded as unlucky ,for Sani is be lieved
t o be a malignant god wh o requires propitiation.
Thursday is th e gre at day forworshi pping ancestorsin t h e eveni ng lights twinkle at Muslim shrine s andHindu temple s throughout Indi a .
Some fest ivals and fai rs are held at intervalslonger than a ye ar, t h e time be ing regulated by th e
posit ion of certain ce le stial bodies thus great
re ligious fairs (mela) take,
place at various holy
centre s, such asKuruksh etra (Thanesar) and Prayag
(Allahabad) , whenever there is an e clipse ofthe sun.
Th e Month ofMagh .
Basant Panchami , or Makar Sankrant i . Basant
or Vasant, means Spring , and Makam is th e
6
Hindi .
Aditya , Surya orRavi .
Soma .
Mangala .
B udha .
Brihaspati .S ukra .
FA I THS , FA I RS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
e quivalent of Capricorn . When t h e Sun is in t h e
sign ofMakara On t h e 5th ofth e bright hal f ofMagh ,
j agaddh atri , goddess of Spring and nourisher of
t h e world , is worshipped . Th e S ign of Makara—a
cre ature with t h e he ad and fore legs of an ante lope
and body and tail of a fish— is th e emblem of
Kandarp , or Kama , t h e god of love , wholi kewise
re ce ives adoration on this occasion , along with h is
spouse Rati , t h e goddess of love ,and L akshm i .
Th e Vasant Rag, or Spring Song,
’
is sung and
itsspe cial virtue is said to be th e giving ofan impulse
t o t h e emotions of love and merriment .
Food i s colouredwith saffron , and ye llow clothes
are worn to represent th e appe arance of t h e Springcrops, also a nautch is considered se asonable .
In som e place s t h e cattle have the ir hornspainted and de corated , and they are given a we ll
e arned holiday .
Th e sun is said to begin h is journe y northward
by entering Capricorn, so h e is worsh ippe d, and
there are enormous gatherings to bathe at Prayag
(Allahabad) , where th e Ganges and Jumna be come
uni ted , and at Ganga Sagar, where t h e Gange s entersth e bosom of th e oce an (sugar) th e former fa ir iswe ll known by th e name ofMugh M ela .
Pongal. In Southern India a festival called
Pongal (a Tamil word me aning boiling ) take splace at this time on
l
i m it
It is in h oi h m’
é
‘
isirth ofMithras (th e Sun) andth e renewal of th e solar ye ar. There is muchre joicing because th e
i
unlucky month ofPoh is over,
HIND U FE S TI VAL S . 83
and be cause each day’
oi t h e ensuing month is
re garded as lucky . For some time be forehand t h e
people are warne d by sannyasis to be care ful and
make offerings to Siva every morning t h e women
cle ar little space s be fore the irhouses and make linesthere on with flowers, over which they place small
balls ofcowdung, sticking into e ach a citron blossom .
These are probably de signed to repre sent
Vighne svara, e ldest son of Isvara (S iva) , th e lord of
t h e triad and remover of obstacle s. Each day the se
little lumps of cowdung are colle cted with the ir
flowers and care fully pre serve d until t h e last day of
Poh ,when ,
with much music and clapping of hands,t h e women march from the ir houses and dispose of
t h e re lics on some waste ground . On t h e followingd ay begins th e festival, t h e first day of which is
calle d Bhogi Pongal, i .e . Indra’
s Pongal ’ . Th e
se cond day is Surya Pongal in honour of t h e Sun.
Marrie d women bathe with the ir clothe s on, and , on
c oming out oft h e water, se t about boiling rice with
milk .When it is re ady they cry Pongal (boiling),
a nd taking it off give some as an offering to an
image of Vigh ne svara and some to cows and then
d istribute t h e remainder. Other ceremonie s are
a fterwards performe d and they continue until th e
seventh day , but th e se cond is th e gre at day of
t h e fe stival .
Th e Month of Phalgun.
Sh eoratri , S iva-Raz
‘ri , orMahasiva Ratri . This is
a fast observed on t h e 1 4th day of th e dark fortni ght
84 FAI THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
ofPhalgun it me ans t h e Night of S iva and the
ceremonies take place chiefly at night . This fast
is said to have be en first observed by a powerful
kingnamed Chitra Bhanu of th e Ikshvaku dynasty,wh o ruled over th e whole of Jambu-Dwip a ,
another
anci ent name for India . On this day a ce lebrate d
defoM ed sage , Ashta Bakra , came t o h i s court
with som e pupils and , finding him fasting , aske d t h e
re ason . Th e king said that in h is previous birth h eh ad be en a hunter and one day , when out se arching
for game ,h e Shot a de er, but was overtaken by
darkne ss and climbed into a bel tre e for safe ty .
While there h e wept bitterly be cause h is wife and
ch ildren were without food and h is te ars fe ll, toge therwith bel le aves, onto a linga, at t h e foot of th e tre e .
Siva imagined that, these were offerings made toh im . On th e followingmorning th e hunterre turned ,sold th e de er, and bought food for h is family. Just
as they were commencing their meal a strangerarrived, and h e was first fed according to custom .
Th e hunter lived for many years without le arningthat h e h ad by chance fasted on th e day of S ivaRatri , but when th e hour of de ath drew ne ar two
me ssengers from S iva appe ared to conduct h is soulto paradi se , and h e the n le arnt that h e was be ing
rewarde d for having observed th e fast on that ausPi .
cious day and night . His soul remaine d in varioushe avens until it reached th e high est , and h e was
afterwards reborn in high rank as a king and was
spe cially favoured by be ing given th e knowle dgeof h is former life .
86 FA I THS , FAIRS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
when ceremonies were performed in honour of th e
cr0 ps and to ward offdise ase from t h e fie lds. Even
now there is‘
a remnant of’
the se in t h e e ating of
stalks of half-ripe whe at and barley and in t h e
burning of cakes of cowdung. Th e main fe stival ,however, h as deve loped into some thing quite
different and h as be come th e Saturnalia of India .
There is a legend that a terrible female demon,
named Holaka , was accustome d to make h er da ily
me al of children . Th e pe ople appe aled to a certain
demon-king, wh o dire cted that t h e fury was t o
limit h er appe tite and only devour one child a day ,
also that th e people might draw lots as to which it
should be. One day t h e only grandson of a lone ly
old woman was se le cted in this manner for sacrifice
on th e following morning. Bemoaning h is fatesh e was wandering about , when sh e encountere da sadhu, who de clare d that if Kolaka were me t withsufficiently strong abuse and foul language sh e
would be subjugated . Th e old woman spre ad t h enews abroad and e arly next morning colle cte d all
th e children , wh o h ad be en instructe d what to say,
and ,when Holaka appeared , they all gree ted h er
with such a torrent ofabuse and obscene e xpressionsthat sh e fe ll dead on th e spot and th e children madea huge bonfire of h er remains.
Th e festival of t h e pre sent day is in ce lebrationof this event , and h as be come th e occasion of
licentiousjoy, drunkenness, evil singing, and‘
dancing.Many personslose all sense ofrespe ct forage , sex, andre ligi on—t h e foule st language . is used, 1 cloth es are
HIND U FES TI VAL S . 87
sme ared with red powder (kunkuma) mixed withwater, and this is squirted over every one indiscri
minately. Re spe ctable women have to ke ep at
home orm e e t with insults and obscene jokes.When
th e bonfire is lighte d, however, some of them ventureout to hold the ir infants ne ar th e flame s for a few
mom ents, as this is be lieved to act as a charmagainst evil influence s.
It isprobably some thing more than a coincidencethat th e Roman festival of Anna Perenna was
ce lebrate d at this tim e of th e ye arand was some
what similar to that of th e Holi .
Phulguni , t h e goddess of Spring , is analogous
with th e Ph agesia of th e Gre eks, and th e word is
compounded of phala ,‘ fruit or
‘fructifier and
gm m, quality .
’
Fi mla and fi mla ,flower and
frui t,
’
are t h e roots of Florali a and Phalasa , th e
Phallus ofOsiris (lingam of Isvara) .
Th e month of Ph algun is ce lebrated in
Rajputana with gre at éclat . It commence swith th e
Ahaz’
rea , or great Spring~Hunt and , as succe ss on
this occasionin slaying t h e boar in honour ofGouri,t h e Ceres of th e Rajputs, means good luck for t h e
future , t h e compe tition is e xtreme .
AsPh algun advances there ismuch Bacchanalian
mirth , and thi s is th e t ime when red powder is
scattere d about , ora solution squirted at one another
and passers-by. Th e festival of Hoh: commences
about th e full moon at t h e approach of th e vernal
e quinox, and this season is pe culiarly dedicated
to Krishna ; image s of this de ity are
.
carried in
88 FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
procession with much music and singing nautches
and feasts are provided by the we althy.
Th e Month ofChait.
Ramaf-navami . Rama -navami , th e birthday of
Rama ,is observe d on t h e 9th of th e light half ofth e
month ofChait and is ke pt by some as a strict fast .
Th e temples of Rama are illuminate d and h is image
is adorne d th e Ramayana isre ad in t h e temples and
there are nautche s at night . In Ra jputana horse s
and e lephants and all the implements of war are
worshipped on this day .
Bali Mela. Th e Ralf-ka-M ela is a fe stival , or
rather a serie s of festivals, which takes place
throughout th e month of Chait/ in t h e Kangra
district . It is ce lebrated by younggirls in memory
ofa maiden name d Ralf.
Th e legend is that a Brahman gave h is grown-up
daughterRali inmarriage to a child named'
Sh ankar.
When sh e discovere d h er fate sh e stoppe d th e
be arers of h er dooly by th e side of a river and
announced to h er brother Bastu that sh e would
live no more sh e dire cted that , in future , girlsshould make clay images ofherse lf and h er husband ,perform t h e marriage ceremony
, and then convey
them to th e river in a doo , and drown them there .
Having spoken thus, sh e threw herse lf into th e
stre am andwasdrowned,h ere xample be ing promptly
followed by Shankarand Bastu in the irgrie f . Duringt he month of Cha it little girls take baske ts of grassand flowers to certain Spots for a period of about
90 FA I THS ,FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
t h e Hindu New Ye ar’
s Day and falls on th e date
on wh ich th e Sun enters t h e sign Aries, e ither t h e
latter part ofChait or e arly in Baisakh . Bathing in
th e Ganges and other sacred rivers is propitious.
S atin (meal of parched gram) and a water-pitcher
should be given toBrahmansforth e benefit ofpi tm or
manes (de ce ased ancestors) ; shoesand umbre llasmay
likewise be bestowed . In order to divert any evil
whi ch t h e New Ye ar may bring , it is ne ce ssary to
take a bath in water, mixed with dkatum (datura
fastuosa , or thorn apple ) se eds and medicines, justat t h e time when t h e sun is entering Arie s ; th e
precise moment can be ascerta ined by floating two
pe tals of a fre sh rose in a basin of water, for the y
move towards one another and come into contact
at t h e exact instant
Th e day is not sacred to any spe cial de ity , but
neverthele ss pious Hindus visit th e temples of the ir
favourite gods, and in t h e e vening th e calendar
of th e new ye ar is re ad out and expounded by
Brahmans. Gala dress is worn and th e day passe din merriment , but t h e company of women and t h e
use of oil and me at should be eschewe d . As a
charm against snake -bite , masnr (ervum lens, a pulse )and two ne em le ave s may be e aten .
On th e Konkan or MalabarCoast in th e BombayPre sidency there are gre at fe stivit ie s on this daygifts are presented by th e he ads of fam ilie s t o t h evarious members, and all valuable s are c olle cte d
in th e room devote d to th e fam ily god and there
worshipped .
HIND U FES TI VAL S . gr
Savitri-vrata (Holy fig-tre e ) . On t h e 29th of
Baisakh there is a fast pe culiar to women ,who
perform certai n rites under th e sacred fig-tre e , th evata or pipal, to pre serve them from Widowhood .
Th e Month of Jayt.
Apsaras. On th e zud of Jeyt , when t h e Sun
is in th e zenith, Rajput ladies commemorate th e
birt h of th e sea-born goddess Rambha ,th e que en
of t h e naiads, or apsam s (ap, water and saw ,
froth whose birth, like that ofVenus, was fromth e foam of t h e waters.
Aranya Shash ti . Am nya (woods) S hush i t’
(sixth)is a fe stival he ld by women in Rajputana on th e
6th Jeyt . On this day those desirous of offspring
walk in th e woods to gather and e at certa in herbs.
S ir W . Jones remarke d th e analogy be twe en thi s
and t h e Druidic ceremony ofgathering th e mistle toe
(also on t h e 6th day of th e moon) as a pre servative
aga inst sterility.
Th e Month of Asarh .
Jagannath . Th e Ratha Yatm (car procession),or proce ssion of t h e Car of Jagannath or Vishnu
(lord of th e universe ) , occurs at Puri in Orissa on
th e zud and th e n th of Asarh, th e night of th e
gods,” when Vishnu (t h e Sun) reposes for four
months.
No less than sixty-two fe st ivals are ce lebrated
at thi s place during t h e ye ar, but th e principal is
that of Jagannath’
s Car. Th e image of this god
92 FA I THS , FAIRS . AND FES TIVAL S .
is a huge block of wood , with a hideous face and
distended mouth ; h is arms are of gold and h e is
gorgeously clothed , as are th e othertwo idols whi ch
accompany h im in h is temple at Puri
In t h e festivals t h e images brought out are
those of Krishna , h is brotherBalarama,and sister
Subh adra .
Th e procession is also called Padha fa im , and
is in much repute with th e Hindus of Bengal andOrissa .
Vishnu’s descent to Pate l. Vishnu is suppose d
to have de scended to t h e world be low (Patal or
Had es at th e end of Asarh in order t o prote ct
Raja Bali from th e attacks of Indra . He did not
re turn until th e latter part of Kartik,so during h is
absence all festivitie s andmarriageswere suspended,and it is now most unlucky to hold such ceremonies
during this interval of four months (middle of July
to th e middle ofNovember) th ere is always a rush
of weddings just be fore and after that period.
94 FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
In t h e Kanara district in the south of Indiaserpent-worship is much practised, and at m any
t emple s conse crated snake s are reared by th e
pandamms and fed da ily at t h e expense of t h e
worshippers women e spe cially perform ceremoniesin the ir honour.
Th e Nagas, or serpent-gem: of th e Rajputs,have a sem i-human structure .
There is a sculptured column in a cave templein th e south of India on which is a repre sentation
ofth e first human pair at t h e foot of a fruit tre e and
a serpent , entwined amongt h e he avily laden boughs,i s presenting to them some of th e fruit from h is
mouth . There is a tradition of th e Jains which
asserts that th e human Spe cie s were cre ate d inpairs calle d j oogal, who fed of th e ever-fructifying'Calpa-vri ksha , which possesse s all th e characteristicsof t h e Tre e of L ife .
”
On t h e occasion of t h e Naga Panchami plantsare strewn about t h e thre shold to pre vent th ee ntrance ofreptiles, and they are regarde d, by some ,more as demons, who have to be propitiated , thanasgods inde ed we re ad that Vishnu is attended by
an e agle name d Garuda which acts as a prote ctora gainst them .
Pethuri , or Pracha Amawasya . This festival ishe ld on t h e newmoon of Sawan in honour of th e
64Yogini , orfemale attendantsofth e goddess'
Durga .
It is chiefly observed by women wh o have lost infant
ch ildren , but men also engage in the holiday and
purchase swe e tme ats and toys for children .
HIND U FES TI VAL S . 95
Solono. Solono is a festival performed in
h onour of th e good genii , when Durvasa , th e sage ,instructe d Salone (th e genius or nymph presiding
over th e month of Sawan) to bind on Rakhi s, or
brace le ts, as charms to avert evi l . Brahrnans and
females alone are privileged to bestow these charmed
wrist-bands. Th e occasion is also calle d Rish i
Tarpani , th e day on which to ple ase th e gods.
’ It
takes place when t h e full moon falls on th e Sravanconste llation and is ce lebrate d by th e twice -born,
more espe cially by Brahmans. On this occasionsisters and brothers exchange gifts.
Th e ceremony of Rakh i (Raksha) B andbun
consists in tying on th e wrist a thre ad made of silk ,cotton,
and coloure d cloth, m ixed with gold thread
and akshat (rice or flowers) . It is tied on t h e wrist
of a ruler by t h e Raf-puroh i t (royal priest) and on
those of th e public by Brahmans or women . Th e
following te xt is re cite d during t h e rite With
which was tied King Bal i , th e lord of giants of
gre at strengt h, with th e same I t ie you, be prote cted
D o not go, do not go.
”
Persons thus tie d are considered to be safe
during t h e succe eding ye ar from snakes, ancestors’
spirits, demons, and all other evils (see also Anant
Chandash ) .
Th e Month of Bhadon.
Janam Ash tami . Janum Ashtami means th e
8th'
day of birth,’
and commemorates th e birth of
Krishna ,which is said to have occurred at midnight
96 FA I THS , FA I RS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
on th e 8th Bhadon. A fast is observed during th e
whole day only to be broken t h e following morning.
During th e day Dwarki , th e mother of Krishna ,
Vasudeva, h is father, Nanda and Yash oda ,h is
step-parents, and Baldeo, h is e lder brother, are all
worshipped . Brahmans place a salagmm (black
stone ) in‘
a cucumber to represent t h e pregnan t
Dwarki , and at midnight ghe e and gm are offere d
th e stone is then taken out and all ceremonies,observed on
‘
th e birth of a chi ld , are performed .
After this th e men and women bre ak the ir fast byfirst sipping a mixture ofmilk, curd, and basil le aves.
Clay images of th e infant Krishna , swung in cradle s,are worshipped at this fe st ival , and th e following dayis a gala one for herdsmen and gowalas (cowherds) ,among whom Krishna spent h is young days.
In some parts ofWe stern India there is a customwhereby one of th e worshippers affe cts to represent
th e new-born Krishna as a Qe ity name d Kanh oba,and ,
for t h e time be ing,h e is worshi ppe d by th e
other devote es. Th e he ad of a temple of Kanh oba
is termed Bhagat, and on this day h e Works himse lf
into a state of hysteria, and is be lieved to be
posse sse d by Krishna .
Anant Chaudash . Anant Chaudash , or t h e 1 4th
of Anant , happens on t h e fourte enth of t h e lighthalf ofBhadon, and i
'
s in honourofAnanta or S asha
th e king of th e serpents, th e Infinite One ”
whi ch Vishnu rests during t h e interval s of cre at ion.
In accordance with t h e rules contained in th e
B haoishya Puran,~a fast is observed and salutation
98 FAI THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
texts. Th e Brahmans are fe asted during th e days
of th e ceremony .
Th e Month of Asvin or Asoi .
Pitra. Paksha and Amavasya. An Amavasya
(also called Anna and DM’Sd Ti tki ) is th e last dayof th e dark or waning fortnight of a lunarmonth ,
and is considered by t h e Hindus to be spe cially se t
apart for th e performance of ceremonie s in honour
of departed ance stors. It is th e conjunction of
t h e sun and moon, or th e ides of th e month .
Of all Amavasyas t h e chie f day‘
is M ahalaya ,
th e 1 sth or last day of th e moonle ss fortnight of
Kuar or Asv in . Th e pre ceding fortnight is calle d
Pi tm Paksha (ance stors’ fortnight) . Every day
thereof is sacred , and ceremonies are then performe d
daily in honour of th e de ce ased . Whatever dayof th e moon a man die d, th e same day of that
fortnight may be observed as h is smddk, forwhichthere are spe cial rite s.
Accordingto th e Shastras, spirits oft h e departe d
le ave the ir abode and come to this world duringthese two we eks in Asvin to re ce ive th e worshipand homage . of the ir descendants. Spirits of
ance stors are usually worshipped be fore all important domestic ceremonie s, for they are be lieved to
be still hovering about the ir own familie s.Only
those worsh i p them , however, wh o have lost the irfathers, for th e Spirits cannot pass through mortalsto affe ct the ir children.
HIND U FES TI VAL S . 99
Th e father, it must be noted, is greatly respe ctedin Hindu fam ilie s and in former days, if not now,
was almost de ified .
Th e Sraddh is performe d on one day ofth e fort~
night , and th e tarpana , offering of water,’
on e ach
day ofth e fortnight , first to th e de ceased father and
paternal ancestors, then to t h e motherand h eraucestors. Th e te xt repe ate d is Th e Fatheris heaven,
t h e Father isre li gion , th e Father is th e highe st formofpenance , prayer, and meditation it is by ple asingth e Father that all th e gods are propitiated .
”
There are'
strict rules regarding th e rites ; they
should be performe d by t h e e ldest son, or, in h is
unavoidable absence , by th e ne xt son,in a quie t
and cle an place . Compliance with th e rule sthere fore ne cessitate s marriage and th e procre ationof sons ; otherwise there would be none to pray
for and conciliate th e spirits, which would couse
quently be une asy and give trouble but after two
generations they fortunate ly pass into a state ofre st .
During s mddk, and some time s for th e whole fort
night , no shaving , cutting of th e hair, or paring of
t h e na ils is perm issible .
Th e Ph algu river in Gaya is a stream part i
cularly sacred to the se spirits, and worship performe d
there he lps them into paradise . At certain times
a large Phalgu fair is he ld byu'
a pond at Ph arral
in th e ne ighbourhood of Kuruksh e tra. Articles
are thrown into th e river and this pond as offerings
t o t h e Spirits. Th e name Phalgu seems to mean
th e‘ fructifying quality .
’
roo FA I THS , FA IRS ,AND FE STI VAL S .
Durga. Puja. This fe stival ' is e spe cially ce le
brat ed in Bengal, and th e Pnja holidaysare enjoye d
by immense crowds. Th e godde ss Durga , daughter
of th e Himalaya mountains and wife of S‘
iva ,
’
goe s
for a t enxdays’
visit to h er father’
s home , and th e
Shastras say that th e festival should be'
he '
ld i n th e
month ofChaitra th e autumnal fe stival, however,was inaugurated in t h e Ramayana to ce lebratet h e de struction oi
'
th e demon-king Ravana with
th e assistance of Durga ,wh o sent down port ions of
t h e Himalayas t o make a bridge to Ceylon,dropping
bits on t h e way and thus forming th e Vindhya and
other mountains.
Durga is th e central figure of th e M arkandeya
Parana . Sh e is th e personification of t h e cre at ive
energy and centre of t h e universe sh e pursue s t h edemons wh o wage war against th e gods t en
armed , sh e st ands on a lion with swords in h er handsand subdue s h er foe s, among whom is one with a
buffalo-he ad , named Mah isasura . With h er are
K artik,th e god ofwar, Gane sha , t h e e lephant -he aded
de ity wh o ride s on a rat, Sarasvati, th e godde ss of
le arning, and L akshmi, t h e godde ss oflove and goodfortune . These are t h e de itie s oft h e Durga Puja .
Th e ceremonie s continue for t en days. Through
out th e first thre e days image s, some time s gor
ge ously decorated , are se t up bV wealthy pe oplei n the ir house s, where costly entertainments are
gi ven . On th e seventh day bathingcommence s andon th e final day Image s are carried ln procession with
great pomp and imm ersed in th e river!
During
I OZ FA I THS , FA I RS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
it be ars a holy ti lak (caste mark) if ne ar lotus
flowers or among e lephants, cows, horses, or snake s,it forebode s conque st and good luck if, however,on ashes,
!
bone s, or re fuse , e vil may follow and th e
gods must be propitiated—Brahmans must be fed
and a
'
medicinal bath taken .
In t h e villages little figure s of Durga are made
out of cOwdung ; the se are highly de corate d and
placed on th e walls of house s offerings are made
and barley is sown be fore them ; on t h e e ighth
or ninth day the se are thrown into a river or pond
accompanied by shouts of jae (victory) .
In th e towns t h e tenth day isgenerally ce lebrated
by t h e Ram L i la ,a play p erformed in an Open plain
on which is se t up a huge wicker-work image . of
t h e demon Ravana , filled with fireworks. An
enclosure , at some little distance , repre sents L anka
(Ceylon) and t h e principal events of th e re scue of
S ita by Rama ,as re corde d in t h e Ramayana ,
are
acted . L ittle boys are dre sse d up as th e goddess
and monkeys, while Hanuman,th e monkey-
general ,is to be se en, with an enormous tail, acting. as a
body-
guard for t h e hero. Th e closing act consists
ia th e advance of Rama in h is chariot towardsRavana , against whom h e shoots an arrow which
causes a serie s of explosions ; th e demon catches
fire in mysterious fashion, catherine whe e ls revolveon h is head, and h e rapidly sinks in a he ap ofashe samidst th e shouts of th e spe ctators. S ita is thenre scued by Rama , and carried off in a chariot with
further applause .
HIND U FESTI VAL S . 1 0 3
Th e Dussehra marks t h e close of th e ra ins and
th e fourmonths’
absence ofth e gods ; it isth e signal,as it were , for th e re commencement ofjoyful festivalsof all kinds further, it h as always be en spe ciallyobserved by th e m ilitary classes, wh o consider i tausp icious to set out on an expedition justafterwards.
Chandra. Th e last day of t h e month . of Asoiushers in th e Hindu winter, and on this day it iscorre ct to we ar only white clothe s and silver (chandi )ornaments in honour of t h e . Moon (Chandra) . In
t h e e vening , when lamps are lighted , a good HinduRa jput should se at himse lf on a white linen clothand
'
worship h is titulary divinity and fe ed th e
Brahmans with sugar and milk.
Th e Month of Kartik.
Bali Pratapada. B ali Pratapada is celebrated
on th e first day of th e light half ofKartik in honour
of th e demon-king Bali , th e descendant of Prah lad ,
wh o was crushed by Vishnu for trying to diSplace
Indra from h is dominion . It se ems that certa in
people ofWestern India consider h im a hero and
used to pray that his re ign may re turn . Th e day
is observe d by bathing and by th e extreme ly use ful
practice of cle aring away dirt and rubbish from
house s there is also much singing and playing oi_
musical instruments.
Bh ratri Dwi tya. On th e se cond day following
t h e amavas, or ide s of Kartik, is th e festival of
1 04 FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
B hram'
Dwi tya (th e brothers) , so calle d be cause
t h e river godde ss Yamuna (Jumna) on this dayentertained h er brother (bhm tm
'
) Yama . Pre sents
are given by girls to the ir brothers in ce lebration
of t h e occasion . When th e cattle re turn from
grazing in th e e vening, th e cow is worshippe d .
Diwali , or D ipawalz'
. D ipavali me ans a row
of lights,’
and is th e gre at festival of illumination .
There are many versions as to its origin . Some
say that it commemorate s th e marriage ofL akshmi ,
godde ss of prosperity, love , and be auty, with th e
divine Vishnu ; in th e north-we st of India this
goddess is certainly conne cted with t h e worship
which takes place on this day . Others sugge st
that it ce lebrate s th e re covery ofth e jewe lry o'
i Aditi
(mother of t h e gods) by Krishna from a demon
named Nakasura , whom h e slew, or that it isperhapsin memory of th e re le ase of maidens whomthis demon he ld as prisoners.
Th e following intere sting account of t h e fe stival,as observed in th e Eastern Punjab ,
is given in
Ibbe tson ’
s Se ttlement Report , Karnal district ,1883
Th e ordinary D iwali is on th e 1 4th ofKartikand is called t h e little D iwali . On this day t h e
pi ta or ancestors visit : th e house . But t h e dayafter
”
is celebrated th e gre at or Gobardhan DiWaJ'i .’in wh ich
'
Krish na is worshipped in h is capacity of
cowherd, and which all owners of cattle shouldobserve . On th e day of th e little D iwali th e wholehouse is fre shly plastere d . At night lamps are
1 06 FA I THS ,FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
run about t h e village with lighted sticks and
torche s.
”
Th e annual cle aning which occurs ou th is
occasion in th e house s of'
Hindus is of gre at utilityfrom a sanitary point of, view . At this time t h e
merchants che ck the iraccounts, and it is auspicious
then t o conse crate and Open new ledgers.
Th e illuminations throughout th e country supplyth e most picture sque and enchanting scene s, e spe‘
cially when t h e ligh ts are refle cted over th e still
water of a tank or. th e gliding surface of a river
such as at Benare s t h e cle ar atmosphere of India .
at this se ason of t h e ye ar lends itse lf to th e occasion,
and there is no me thod of illuminating buildings.
to approach that of minute ch irags with the ir
twinkling lights, picking out in stre aks offire e very '
line of t h e house s, temples, and ghats.
Where atown is situa te on th e bank of a river,wicks and oil are
’
placed in small re ce ptacle s made
of pan le aves in coracle shape , and , be ing lighted ,are se t afloat and allowed to glide down-stre amone after another until they appe ar like a windingendless string of fa iry lamps or stars— a very
be autiful symbol of Ananta , or Eternity .
’
Kali Puja. In Bengal th e D iwali fe stival is.
called Kali Pay'
a , and is in honour of that grimgoddess ; it IS there ce lebrated wi th fireworks,illumination , fe asting, and gambling .
On th e 1 6th of Kartik is a grand festival in
Rajputana in honour of th e goddess Anna Pum a
(food full) , who is however worshi pped in other
HIND U FES TI VAL S .51 07
parts of India more e spe cially in th e month ofChait .
This goddess is be lieved to be identical with th eAnna Perenna of th e Romans.
Kartika Paurnima . Karti ka Paarnz’
ma is a
fe stival ke pt on th e full moon of th e month of
Kartik , in honour of S iva ’
s’
victory over th e demoncalle d Tripurasura .
There is a fe stival on th e 29th of this month inhonourofVishnu
’
s awakening from h is fourmonths’
slumber, or, figurative ly, th e emergence ofth e Sun
from th e clouds of th e rainy se ason.
Th e Months of Aghan and Poh .
There are no fe stivals of any importancegenerally observe d in th e two months of Aghanand Poh .
Mi tra Saptimi . Th e 7th of Aghan, calledM i tra S aptim i , is, howe ver, he ld sacred to th e Sunas a form ofVishnu, and on this day th e Ganges issaid to have desce nde d from th e foot of Vishnuand fallen over th e he ad of Iswara (S iva) . In
imitation there of h is votarie s obtai n water, if
possible , from th e Ganges, and pour libations over
h is emblem , th e linga .
Champa Shash ti . In We stern India at Jijuri ,ne arPoona , there is a fest ival called Champa Shashtz
’
,
which is he ld on t h e 6th of th e light half of Aghan
(or Margasirsh a) in pra ise of a local god called
Kanh oba . It is noteworthy mere ly from th e fact
that it was here that th e great human hook-swinging
ceremony used to take place ; this b arbarous
1 08 FA I THS ,FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
custom“
was prohibited by th e British Governmentin th e middle of th e last century .
Champa (miche lia champaca) i s one of th e five
flowers with which K ama , th e god of love ,
ornaments h is arrow. S hashti me ans sixth.
Koli Diali . In th e latter. end of D e cember a
fe stival called K ali D i ali is ce lebrated in Kulu in
honourofa D evi namedHirma . Th e chie f ceremony
consists in a number of men joining hands in a
circle and whirlinground until they all go sprawling.
In th e e veningth ere are illuminations at th e hamle ts
all down th e valley of th e Be as, and th e signal for
lighting up . is given from -a -sm'
a ll temple in th e old
castle at Nagar. Two days later there is a fair at
th is place in honour of t h e serpent , from which it
derive s its name , and on this occasion an enormous
straw rop e is dragged from th e village to th e'
_ river
to commemorate th e de struction of th e reptilewhich is said to have once ravaged th e _ country-side
I I O FA I THS , FA I RS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
so ne cessary for th e we lfare of a pe ople dependent
on agriculture . Be ing of such utility, these waters
naturally occupie d an important position in t h e
ancient hymns of praise and gradually be came
de ified . All th e large rivers,‘
many of t h e smaller
streams, and large numbers'
oi tanks or lake s and
ponds are considere d of extreme sanctity, and th e
custom h as long e xisted to visit those places on
the ir banks, which have achie ved n otorie ty from
the ir situation ,in order to acquire merit and future
reward .
Th e latter part of K artik is considere d an
auspicious time to se t out on pilgrimage s, for it was
then that th e gre at Rama commence d h is successful
e xpedition and then that Vishnu re turne d to th e
e arth after an absence of some fourmonths in th e
ne ther re gions. From this time forward until th eS pring a large proportion of th e trave lling public
in India consists of pilgrims, male and female , on
t he ir way to attend One or another of th e re ligious
fairs, or to v isit sacred places, and bathe in h olv
waters. At this time thousands proce ed to
Hardwar, where th e sacre d Gange s issue s fromt h e Himalayas and is supposed to have descended
from th e he ad ofSiva on to th e e arth there they
bathe , perform certain rite s, and obtain seale d bottle sof th e divine liquid , which will later be poured
overth e idols ofVishnu orSiva , orused at marriage ,de ath, and other ceremonies. Hardwar me ans
l iterally th e discharging gate from har (term i._
nalia chebula) , a purgative , and dwara , a gate .It
HIND U FA IRS . I I I
i s situated on th e right bank of th e Ganges near
Roorke e . Every twe lfth ye ar th e Kumbh Mela , as
it is called, assume s large proportions.
At Nathdwara, th e Door of God ,
’is situate a
most ce lebrated temple ofKrishna , th e Apollo ofth e
Hindus. This place is about twenty-two miles from~Oodipuron th e right bank of th e Bunas. It owe s itsd ist inction to th e fact tha t it contains an image of
thisgod which is said t o be th e same that h as be en
worshippe d at Mathura ever since h is de ificat ion
some e leven hundred ye ars be fore Christ.
Among th e most sacre d places ofpilgrimage must
be mentioned B enares, that city of temple s and“
stronghold of S iva Worship ; others spe cially con
necte d with th e Gange s are B adari K edar ne ar
its source , Ganga S agar at th e point where it
flows into th e ocean (as itsname implies) , and Prayag(Allahabad) at its confluence with th e Jumna ,
where as many as half a million pilgrims assemble
annually during th e 'Magh M ela to bathe in th e
e ssence ofsanctity forme d by th e combined stre ams.
Th e Cave ofAmarNath amidst th e snows ofth e
Himalayas in Kashmir, th e shrine of Mahadeo
i n a gorge of th e Mahade o Hills ne ar Pachmarhi,and Omkaron an island in th e Nerbudda are notable
in conne ction with th e worship of S iva , while
j owala Mukh i in th e Punjab is remarkable as th e
Spot where Sati , Wife of S iva , is sai d to have burnt
herse lf .
Ci trakat in Bunde lkund , Ramesvar on an island
be twe en India and Ceylon, and Nasik on th e
I I Z FAI THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Godavari are among th e places famous in conne ct ionwith t h e adventures of t h e hero Rama .
Kuruksh etra , on th e Sarasvati to th e north
of D e lhi, is th e centre of th e fie ld ofKuru, re ferred
to in th e Mahabharata, and also th e birthplace of
Hinduism.
Be sides th e ordinary pilgrims wh o attend t h e
gre at fairs and visit holy places, there are thousandsof asce tics or
'
sadhus the se extraordinary m ortalsform separate little groups of the ir own se cts at
t h e fairs, and squat on mats or platforms unde r
qua int umbre llas or bene ath tre es and bushe s ;there the y perform th e actions prescribed by the irrespe ctive cre eds some re ading or re citing, others
meditating, and yet others undergoing dre adful
austeritie s.
At most sacred place s th e local Brahmans
maintain huge registers in which they re cord parti
culars of th e persons for whom they ofli ciate theyarrange for th e accommodat ion of the ir clientsduring the ir visit , perform th e ne cessary rites forthem ,
and attend to repe at texts while they are
bathing, and to colle ct offerings from one and all. It
i s considered ofgre at importance that a man should
be attended by th e same Brahman, or hi s succe ssor,wh o officiated for h is ance stors, and th e registers
are arranged with indices to facili tate search . Th e
Brahmans reap a rich harvest in fe es and offeringson the se occasions.
By bathing in holy water a H indu re ce ive sabsolution and merit in some instances h e thereby
1 1 4 FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
The re ligious enthusiasm during'
th e bathingi s immense ,
and it is a marve llous sight— th e vast
crowds movingwith haste be twe en th e two lakes
that mass of humanity splashing at t h e hundre ds
of ghats— that march of thousands of pilgrims,
solemn at first , more and more excited as they
approach th e steps le ading to t h e sacre d water, and
at th e supreme moment the ir face s be aming with
intense re ligious joy and gladne ss. Th e only sounds
to be he ard are th e dripping of th e water, th e
subdued hum of muttered prayer”
, th e occasional
t inkle of be lls or noise ofme lodious horns ; th e only
active movements to be se en are those of t h e arms
of bathers as they souse themse lve s with water
and of th e Brahmans as they fli t . here and there
am idst th e multitude , holding out little brass
ve ssels to re ce ive t h e offerings of ornaments and
coin.
L et usnow leave thi s scene and glance at another,h igh up in th e Himalayas in th e e ast of Kashm ir.
Th e Cave of Amar Nath is situate in a long
glacial gorge , and thousands of pilgrims visit it
during th e month '
of Sawan . It contains a huge
p erpe tual icicle , which is said to wax and wane
with th e moon and is regarde d as a linga and most
miraculous emblem of S iva th e D estroyer.
Th e pilgrimage consistsofe ight stage s, nine ty-one
mile s in all , stre tching from Srinagar, by Pah e lgamand Panch at erani , to AmaI Nath . On th e r1 t h
of th e bright half of Sawan all t h e pilgrims colle ctat Pah elgam and on t h e following day march up
HIND U FA IRS . 1 1 5
i nto th e snow. Some are poorly clad, others
pract ically nude , and t h e de termination required
by the se enthusiasts to perform this arduous journeyc an hardly be imagined . Formerly large numbersd ied by t h e way through cold and privation , but
nowadays th e Kashmir State assists th e pilgrimsby providing food for th e poorer classe s and sadhus,and resting place s or re fuge huts for th e we ary orsick ; t h e route le ading to Amar Nath h as be engre atly , improve d and is no longer th e rough trackwhich it was in former days.
In Central India there is another gorge whichc ontains a notable shrine of Mahadeo, one of th e'
names of S iva it is situate ne ar Pachmarhi in th eMahade oHills. Once a ye arpilgrims encamp at th e
foot of th e hills and then wend the irway upwardsby several rugged tracks to t h e shrine which re stsin a cave , running about a hundred yards into th ebowe ls of th e e arth and entered through a hugea rch in t h e sandstone cliff . A stream of cle arwater gushe s forth from a cle ft in th e rock at th e
end of t h e cave , and at th is point stands a small
c onical stone , or linga , t h e symbol ofth e gre at god .
A huge bell tolls while strings of pilgrims pass
to and fro, making offerings of all th e money and
ornaments in the ir possession and presenting little
bottles to th e Brahmans to be fille d with sacred
water and sealed for them to carry home . Formerly
th e journeywas dangerouson account ofth e presence
of tigers and otherwild animals, but the se are now
few and far be twe en.
1 1 6 FA I THS , FA I RS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
At Owkar-Mandhatta th e local S ivite gospe l
re late s that devote e s, wh o cast themse lves from a
certain high pre cipice on to t h e rocks be low to fulfil
spe cial oaths, would marry daughters of t h e ange ls
and re ce ive absolution for all sins, even for th e
slaying of a Brahman— t h e worst possible offence .
This barbarous practice , toge ther with hook
swinging, sa ti ca, and t h e offering of human be ings
as sacrifices and ofwomen as slave s or concubines,has long since be en prohibited .
At a place named K atas in t h e Salt Range of
th e Punj ab lies a holy tank where a large mela
(assemblage ) is he ld e very ye ar in honour of th e
goddess S ati (Sutte e ) . Th e story runs t h at ,'
wh en
sh e died , S iva was so grieved that th e te ars raine d
from h is eyes and from one of them a pool wasforme d at Pokhar, ne ar Ajmer, and from th e otherth e Spring at Katas (an abruption of K ataksha or
! Raining Eye came into existence .
One of t h e most venerate d shrine s’
in Indiais th e Temxple ofj agam i ath at Puri in Orissa , whereVishnu is espe cially worshi ppe d and th e gre at
Car Festival is ce lebrate d e very ye ar. Re garding
this an article in t h e Times of I nd ia I llustrated!
Weekly re late s No fewer than sixty-twofestivals are he ld in Puri during t h e year, th e mostimportant of which is th e Rath j atim , or Car
Fe stival , he ld about th e end of June . Immediately pre ceding this is t h e Snan-j attra , whenth e god is said to have fever and is not visible forfifte en days, though , as a matteroffact , th e images
1 1 8 FA I THS , FAI RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
forward to catch a sight ofthe irde ity, an d strugglingto obtain a share in t h e honour of drawing th e car,
it is not to be wondered at if a certa in number are
pushed bene ath th e massive whe e ls and killed .
But fortunate ly, in re cent ye ars, th e authorities
have taken such good pre cautions that the se
accidents now rare ly happen .
Arrived at t h e garden th e images are carried
into t h e temple , where they remain for Seven days,at th e end of which time they again re turn to t h e
Gre at Temple in the ir chariots. But by this time
most of th e pilgrims have re turned to the ir house s,and far from be ing a triumphal procession it is
often a matter of some difficulty to obtain suffi
cient labour to drag th e huge cars home again .
”
Th e popular legend regarding th e origin of
Jagannath is somewhat complicated . For a longtime in th e golden age men h ad be en vainly se arching.
for t h e god Vishnu until finally a king namedIndradyumna sent out Brahmans to t h e four
quarters to try and find h im thre e re turned un
succe ssful, but t h e fourth , wh o h ad gone towards
th e e ast , arrive d at th e dwe lling of a fowler name d
Basu, wh o compelled h im to marry h is daughter
and remain there to bring honour to h is family ,
Now Basu was a servant to J agannath , th e Lord
of th e World , and h e daily offere d fruit and flowers
to h is god se cre tly in th e wildern ess. One day th e
Brahman managed to obtain a View ofJagannath,
wh o was in th e form ofa blue stone image (ofwhichthere are many in Orissa formed ofcommon chlorite )
HIND U FA IRS . 1 1 9
A vision appe ared in th e shape ofa crow and directedth e Brahman to carry th e news to th e king . WhenIndradyumna at length he ard ofthis
, h e se t out witha vast army, forced h isway through th e dense jungle ,
and, reaching th e Blue Mountain ne ar th e spot ,be came sooverwhelmed with pride that
'
h e cried
Wh o is like unto me , whom t h e Lord of th e World
h as chosen to build h is temple , and to teach men
to call on h is nam e ? Th e lord Jagannath was
e xce e ding wroth at t h e king’
s conce it , and de clared
that h e should certainly construct th e temple but
would have to se e k anew for h is god . Th e temple
was accordingly ere cted , but Indradyumna passed
away to he aven without discoveringt h e where abouts
ofJagannath .
Many age s later, when t h e sacred edifice h ad
be en buried in th e sands,and t h e city, which h ad
sprung up around it , h ad crumbled into ruins, th e
king ofth e place wasridingalong t h e be ach when h is
horse stumbled upon t h e pinnacle of th e forgotten
shrine on havingth e sand cle are d away h e found
th e temple of Jagannath fair and fre sh as when
first built .
Indradyumna , wh o h ad be en undergoing penance
in h e aven, at lengt h prevailed upon Brahma to
reve al th e Spot where Jagannath was concealed ,and th e Lord of th e World, appe aring in a vision ,
showed h im h is image as a huge block of timber
thrown up by th e se a upon th e be ach.
All th e carpenters of th e kingdom were sum
moued to fashion t h e block into th e likeness of
1 20 FA I THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Jagannath , and finally, with t h e assistance ofVishnu ,
this was achieve d . Th e king of th e land then
se cured t h e aid of Basu , th e old fowler, to convey
t h e god to t h e temple whi ch Indradyumna h ad
prepared for h im , and there it was locke d up for a
re st , th e king de claring that no one should ent er
fortwenty-one days. Th e que en,however
,persuaded
h im to let h er have a pe ep in order that sh e might
be pre served from barrenne ss, and , on h er doing so,
it was found that there were image s ofJagannath,h isbrother, and sister but they were only fashioned
from th e waist upwards, while t h e two gods onlyh ad stumps for arms and th e sister h ad none at all.
So they remain to this day , but on t h e occasion of
fe stivals golden arms are prov ided .
Kulu ,t h e sub-division of th e K angra district
in t h e Punjab ,is perhaps favoure d with more fairs
than any other tract in India . There ne arly e very
hamle t h as at le ast one during t h e h ot se ason ,in
addition to th e ordinary fe stivals, and t h e datesare conveniently arranged so that
'
they do not clash .
Once a ye ar during th e month of Asoj there is a
gre at parade ofall t h e godlings oft h e ne ighbourhoodin
_
h onour of th e god Ragganath at Sultanpur, t h e
old capital of Kulu . On this occasion there is
a rath fe stival somewhat similar to that which takesplace at Puri . Th e god is conveyed from h is templein a highly de corated ve hicle , drawn by th e pe oplethemse lve s and e scorted by all th e minor de itie s
,
to a spot where a tent is ere cted for h is stay of five
days ; this period is occupied by t h e godlings in
1 22 FA I THS ,FAIRS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
every description th e grain-merchants do a roaring
trade , likewise“
th e stall-ke epers wh o se ll food and
drink .
At other gatherings, however, such as those inth e Mahadeo gorge or at
‘
t h e cave of Am ar Nath ,
there isnone ofthismerry-making men and women
are there mere ly intent on pe rforminga meritoriousact , whereby they will re ce ive compensation in a
future existence .
CHAPTER XI .
H INDU SECTS AND SOCIETIES .
IND IA is, par e xce llence , t h e land of asce ticismand sad
'
h/as, or personswh o be long to th e numerousasce tic se cts and orders of Hindui sm .
Th e se cts may be roughly div ided into thre emain groups
1 . Va ishnavas, or those wh o worship Vishnu,
or h is manifestat ions in some form or other.
2 . S a ivas, wh o in various ways show devotionto S iva .
3 . M i scellaneous.
It is notice able that there are practically no
sadhus wh o worshi p Brahma, t h e first member of
th e Hindu trinity .
Th e m embers of t h e various orders or
fraternit ies mav be identified almost invariably byth e ti lak, ormark, which, like Cain , they be arupon
the ir fore he ads some time s they are distinguished
still furtherby signsand emblemswhich are painted ,or even branded , on the ir p efsons most of them
carry rosarie s and we ar ne cklaces. Th e rosaries
are e ither made of agate s, com elians,and other
stones, or of rudrakska (Rudra’
s eye ) berries, those
of th e Saivas having 32 or 64 berries and those of
t h e Vaishnavas as many as 1 08. The se numbers
are said to be multiplications of th e numberof signs
1 24 FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
of th e zodiac by that of certain ce le stial bodie s .
A Vaishnava , however, whom I once questioned ,
informed me that h is be ads represented th e 1 08
he ads ofRavana which were struck offby Rama .
Th e ti lak of t h e Va ishnava se cts is usually
composed of thre e upright marks called th e trifa ia ,which is emblematic of th e thre e gods of th e
trinity t h e two outer one s are white or ye llow and
some times slant outwards, while th e central one is
red . Th e whi te line s are painted with a pe culiar
clay, which is called gopi chandana after t h e
m ilk-maids of Dwarka , whence it is obtained t h e
red pigment is a mixture of turmeric and lim e .
Th e Saivas favour t h e trigbund’
m , which consists
ofthre e horizontal line s painte d with ashe s.
Many of t h e sadhus sme ar themse lve s withashe s or clay ,
and , when not pract ically naked , we ar
orange or salmon- coloure d garments, or adorn
themse lve s in sackcloth and ashe s.
”Few carry
out any of t h e ordinary caste Observance s, for
they mostly regard themse lves as separate fromworldly concerns.
Vast numbers of the se pe ople continually p er
ambulate t h e country, v isit ing th e various holy
fairs and sacred places some are attached to monas
t erie s under makants and proce ed on long journeys,
re ce iv ing alms and colle ctingnews, for de livery , on
the irre turn , to the ir re spe ctive he ad prie sts othersse t up as hermits, orundergo most terrible austeri
tie s and there are those wh o a ffe ct th e guise of
sadhusfor evil purposes, orgain, or out oflaziness.
1 26 FA I THS ,FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Vishnu .They are mostly found in th e De ccan .
Th e members are particular about the ir food, which
e ach h as to prepare private ly for himse lf . They
paint on the ir bodies, in white clay and red patche s,
emblems of Vishnu ,such as th e lotus, conch , and
discus. They re tain th e sacred thre ad , carry
rosaries, and we ar orange - coloured clothe s. The ir
ti lak is t h e trifaia with a conne cting stre ak across
t h e top of th e nose . They follow doctrine s from
Ve danta works and th e Puranas.
2 . Ramanandis, Ramavats, or Rama is. This
se ct is chiefly encount ere d in th e Gange tic plains,where they posse ss we ll- endowed monasteries.
They worship Rama and S ita chiefly, but also
Rama’
s brothers and Hanuman . Th e members of
t he ir principal sub -se cts are called Bairagis, and‘
S anyasis ; two others are known as Achari and
Khaki .
Th e B airagi s (a name common tomost Va ishnava
sadhus) do not we ar coloure d clothe s ; they have ,
emblems of Vishnu brande d on the ir right arms,and are fond ofhe ad-cloths on which th e name s
Rama and S ita are printed .
Th e S anyasi s, wh o must not be confuse d with
those oft h e Saiva group , robe themse lve s in salm on
coloured clothes of cotton ; th e Acharis we ar garmentsmade ofsilk and wool ; and th e Khakis
,wh o
are generally naked , sme ar themse lve s with ashe s.
All Ramanandis have t h e trifala as the ir se ct
mark , carry rosaries, and we ar t h e sacre d thre ad,
whe th ertheywere previously entitled to do so ornot .
HIND U SECTS . 1 27
3. Kabir-panthi s, wh o are followers of Kabir,t h e chi e f ofRamananda
’
s twe lve disciples, are found
most ly in Upper and Central India . They be lieve
in a Supreme Be ing , wh o can assume shapes, such
as Vishnu, and h as occasionally be come incarnatein mortals, such as Rama . They use a form of t h e
trifala for a ti lak. Any caste may join th e se ct ,which is inoffensive .
4. Ballabh -acharyas, or Rudra~sam1>radayins,follow doctrines from t h e Bhagavata Purana and
Ballabh a’
s works. They worship th e cowherd
Bala Gopala . All caste s, e xcept th e very lowe st ,can join th e se ct , and t h e members do not practiseausterit iesbut indulge in good fe eding and drinking,while some actually surrender the ir women-folkto the ir gurus, or Maharaj
'
as as they are called,whom they regard as demi-gods.
5. Madhvas, orBrahma-sampradayins, are found
in th e south of India . This se ct was founded by
Mad h av-ach arya . Th e members we ar an orange
coloure d cloth round the ir loins, brand the ir persons
with emblems of Vishnu , but discard th e sacred
thre ad. All caste s are admitte d, but only a
Brahman can be come a guru . They generally reside
in monasteries, and differfrom true Vaishnavas in
that they worship Siva , Durga, and Ganesha , as
we ll as Vishnu, and deny th e absorption of th e
worldly soul into t h e Supreme Spirit .
6. Chai tawya’
s followers are mostly in Bengal .
He was regarded as an incarnat ion of Krishna, to
whom they show gre at devotion . All castes, e ven
1 28 FA I THS , FA IRS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
th e lowe st , and both sexe scan enterthisse ct . Theyare usually called B airagi s. Th e males and female s
fre quently live as man and wife , while those of th e
sub -se cts S ahafa , Spashta D ayaka , and B aa l live
toge therpromiscuously and le ad most immoral live s
7. Dada -
panlh i sare followers ofa low- caste man
named Dadu and worship Rama . Th e Naga
panthi s are a sub-se ct they have no ti lak, but
we ar a sort of small cap .
Saivas.
1 . D andi s are so called , be cause e ach m ember
carrie s a staff as an emblem of S iva . They e ithe r
go naked or we ar salmon-coloured garments. Only
Brahm ans can join th e se ct , and the y must re ce ive
the ir food only from t h e same . They are sa id to.
consider themse lve s part and parce l of t h e god S iva .
2 . S anyasi s, or D asnam i s, are all vege tarians.
Any Hindu may be a m ember. They be ar no ,
distinctive se ct m ark , unle ss i t be t h e eye of S ivain t h e centre ofth e forehe ad . The se sadhusgenerally
have long matted hair, and always carry a pair of
iron tongs and we ara ne cklace of radm ksha berries.
which are pe culiarly sacred to S iva . They sme ar
the irbodieswith ashes, we artiger or leopard skins,
and never put on white clothes. Many we ll-knownre formers and le aders of thought were for a time
members of this se ct .
3. Yogi s, or Jogis, practise suppre ssion of th e
bre ath, de ep meditation, fixing of th e eye s, and a
great variety of posture s, in order, as they be lieve ,
1 30 FA I THS ,FA IRS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
8. Urdha-mukhis suspend themse lves by t h e
fe et and hang he ad downwards. They will remain
in this position, some time s for half an hour at a
time , while swinging overa fire . Afterthis.
austerity
they are massage d by the ir companions for about
an hour, when they are re ady foranothersuspension .
9. Akasa-mukhias ke ep the ir necks bent back
and gaze at th e sky .
Miscellaneous.
1 . Saktas worship th e S akti or female energy ,
’
and have , as the ir spe cial de itie s, th e'
wives of S iva .
The ir symbol is th e yom’
, or female emblem. Th e
se ct consists of two main branche s, th e right
hand and th e le ft hand worshippers. Th e
chie f difference be twe en t h e two is that th e formerdonot indulge in such obscene practice s as t he latter,Whose tene ts actually require th e observance of
rites in which women, flesh , wine , fish , and magicalsigns take a part . Th e godde ss is represented at
t he ceremonies by nude women , and , with thesere quirements, it isnatural that th e so-called worship
h as degenerated into loathsome impurity.
This se ct is not common , but is to be found hereand there in Indi a, e spe cially in Bengal , but th emembers have to indulge in the irriteswit h se cre cy.
Th e extreme members are calle d Kowls, and paintthe ir forehe ads with vermilion.
2 . Saaryas, orS aaras, are worshippersofSurya ,
ort he sun They, however, adore Rama and othergods.
HIND U S OCI ETIES . 1 31
3. Gosains (from Sanskrit go-swami or Lordof th e Cow This term is applied to certainre ligious mendicants, monks, and guardians of
temple s, also as a caste name for a class of
laymen.
4. Ganapatyas form a se ct for th e worship of
Gane sha , or Ganapati .
Hindu Societi es.
Th e S amaj, orHindu Socie ty, is a cre ation of t h e
1 9th century , during which there was natural ly
an influx of We stern ide as. Numerous le aders of
t hought arose and attempted to purifV and arrange
t h e Hindu be lie fs, so as to bring them into line
with modern requirements.
Th e first of t hese re formers of any irnportance
was Ram Mohan Roy, wh o h ad considerable inter‘
course with Europe ans and devote d much time to
t h e study of Christianity . Be fore h is death , which
occurred in England in 1833, h e founded th e
Brahma S amaj’
. Th e tene ts of this socie ty, as
framed some t en ye ars later under th e dire ction of
D ebendernat h Tagore , were th e abandonment of
idolatry, t h e worship of one God , and t h e ret ention
of ancient customs in so far as they did not clash
with th e foregoing .
Betwe en 1857 and 1866 a member of thissocie ty ,name d Keshab Chandar Sen, disagreed with
D ebendernat h over certain matters and be came
t h e leader of a new branch which re je cts th e
1 32 FA I THS,FAI RS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
Veda ; th e cre ed as finally formulate d by h im.
was
1 . One God , one scripture , one church .
2 . Eternal progre ss of t h e soul.
3 . Communion of prophe ts and saints.
4. Fatherhood and Motherhood of God .
5. Brotherhood of man and S isterhood of
woman
6. Harmony of knowledge and holine ss, love
and work, Yoga and asce ticism in the ir highest
development
7. Loyalty to Sovere ign .
Th e Prarthana S amaj, or Prayer Socie ty,’
was
started in Bombay as a re sult of t h e new doctrines,and h as th e following tene ts
1 . Be lie f in one God .
2 . Renunciation of idolatry.
3 . Moral living.
4. Repentance of sins.
5. Prayer to God for pardon .
About t h e same time another somewhat simi lar
socie ty ,called th e Veda S amaj, was formed in
Madras, and later on this be came th e Brahma
Samaj of Southern India .
Another offshoot was t h e S adharana Brahma
S amaj.
Owing to all these dissensions th e movement
started by Ram Mohan Roy h asmade little progre ss,but such as it has achieved h as been sound
e spe cially in e levating t h e position of women.
D
1 34 FA I THS ,FA I RS ,
AND FES TI VALS .
Th e Aryas are doing much for t h e education
and advance of the irwomanhood and most of the ir
doctrines are sound , but they include a practice
called niyoga , or t h e temporary union of a man and
woman fort h e procre ation ofchildren when marriage
h as failed to produce them , or during t h e enforce d
absence of th e husband .
Th e scripture of t h e Arya Samajists consists of
writ ings by Dayanand brought toge ther in a book
known as t h e S atyarath Prakash . Th e socie ty
possesse s institutions,or garukuls, in which youthsare se cluded from t h e age of 8to 25 and taught th e
principle s of t h e Arya religion .
Hindu Re ligious Revival.— Th e following Spe e ch
was de livered by t h e Maharaja Bahadur of
Darbhanga , when presiding at t h e S anatana D harma
public me e ting he ld at Bombay on th e 20 th D e cember, 1 91 5 ; it is intere sting as showing t h e effortsbe ing made for a Hindu re ligious revival
Throwing back our thoughts to t h e past
and looking at th e various civ ilizations that history
unfoldsbe fore ourwonderingeye s, and re alising that
th e Hindu civili zation is one of t h e most ancientcivilizations that have be come known to mankind,we , as Hindus, note with t h e most joyous and
grate ful satisfaction that , while mighty States and
Civilizations like th e Egyptian, and Assyrian, th e
Babylonian, th e Gre e k, t h e Roman , and manyanoth er have come and have gone , ourhoary Hinducivilization still live s, thrive s, and flourishes, and
offers to th e world a standing example of th e lasting
HIND U SOCI ETI ES . 1 35
and state ly edifice that can be re ared on t h e solid
foundations of a truly spiritual re ligion. Th e
foundations of our civilization have be en firmly
and truly laid on our ancient Vaid ika re ligion,that
S anatana D harma , t h e olde st “
of living re ligions,which stands unrivalled for t h e depths of its
Spirituality as it shinesune qualled with t h e splendourof its phi losophy, and yie lds to none in t h e purityof its e thics as we ll as in t h e flexibility and varied
adaptation of its ritual and ceremonies. It h asbe enwe ll and truly said that th e Va idi ka Dharma is like
a river, which h as shallows that a child may playin , and de pths which th e stronge st diver cannot
fathom .
After outlining th e nature of t h e Varnas and
Ashramas, His Highness continued : Bewitched
by t h e glare ofmodern We stern civilization we are
like ly to think t h e caste system asan obstacle to our
progress, but t hose wh o hold such views se em to
forge t that t h e We st is as ye t trying and exp eri
ment ing,and h asnot succe e ded in solving itspre ssing
social problems. Western civilization, dominated
as it is by t h e Spirit of compe tition, accentuates th e
separative tendencie s of man . By tra ining t h e
individual to battle for h is individual rights, it
fosters t hose disruptive forces which make social
stability almost impossible . Th e hostility
be twe en t h e privileged classes and t h e aggrieve d
masses of t h e feudal time s, which brought about th e
French Revolut ion, is finding its counterpart to-day
in t h e strife be tween Capital and Labour. Nor
1 36 FA I THS ,FA IRS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
can t h e schemes ofth e socialistsmuch he lp to evolve
social pe ace and harmony out of this ce ase le ss
strife . If we ponder over all thi s, we cannot but
fe e l grate ful to th e holy Rishis ofyore wh o devised
this system of castes and Ashramas. It trainedits votaries to look to the irduties and to discharge
them fearlessly .
“They h ad e very re ason to be proud of the ir
gre at spiritual inheritance . Th e time,gentlemen ,
h as come when t h e Hindus of different classes and
denominations must be provided with a common
me e ting ground where they should be able to fe el
that they are Hindus first and foremost , and
Vaishnavas, Saivas, or Saktasonly afterwards ; where
they should be able to sink and forge t minor
differences and me e t toge ther, in amity and unity, on
t h e firm ground of th e basic veritie s of Hindure ligion and philosophy . It was essential that
they should not , as Professor Huxley remarked ,forge t th e fore st in th e tre es.
’
His Highn e ss dwe lt on these basic , Spiritualand e thical unitie s which are and should everremain t h e common be lie f of all Hindus, and ,
continuing, said : Our revered Rishis, re alisingth e unity of all knowledge , knew no distinctionbe twe en science , phi losophy , and re ligion . Theyunderstood all these to be p arts of one gre at whole ,and a study of modern science and phi losophy;undertakenwith t h e obj e ct ofa be tterunderstandingof our own scriptures and of le ading th e mind upto th e higher knowledge , th e Para-Vidya , t h e
1 38 FAI THS ,FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Loyalty to th e K ing is natural to t h e Hindus
as it is enjoine d by the ir scripture s. Both by
prote cting t h e subje cts from outside invasions and
by ke eping order in th e country as we ll as by pro
t ect ingt h e weak from t h e strong h e makes it possible
formillions of human be ings to le ad pe ace ful lives.
Under t h e benign British rule we have be en long
enjoying continuous pe ace , and this very me e ting.
to concert me asure s for t h e noble ide als and tradi
tions of th e S anatana D harma is made possiblebe cause there is pe ace in t h e country, and it is but
natural that we should fe e l grate ful to t h e Gracious
King—Emperor wh o h as given us these blessings.
It was inde ed a divine ly inspire d act of British
statesmanship that prompted ourrulers to re cognise
t h e genius of our re ligion and culture and to make
re ligious tolerance and neutral ity a basic principle
of the ir rule . By proclaiming non- interference
in matters of faith and strictly adhering tol
t h at
principle , they laid t h e foundation of the ir rule
broad and de ep . For us, Hindus, those wh o are
not against usare with us, and , though Government
have be en strictly adhering to this principle of
re ligious neutrality, we have ample e vidence that
it h as be en benevolent neutrality t h e most striking
and convincing proof whereof h as be en t h e ke eninterest shown by t h e Government in t h e cultivationof Sanskrit literature and t h e re cent act of His
Exce llency t h e Viceroy and t h e Government of
India in givingus t h e Hindu University. Is it not ,there fore , in accordance with t h e basic ide as of
HIND U SOCI ETI ES . 1 39
our re ligion that we should e ver be grate ful to our
benign rulers, and will not our joint loyalty find
de eper expre ssion if we have a common prayer for
t h e K ing-Emperor, as was resolve d upon by t h e All
India Sanatana Dharma Sammilan (Conference )he ld at Hardwar during th e last Kumbha Me la ?
This will give a fre sh life t o Hinduism , an impe tus
which will be ar it through in t h e changed circum
stance s Oi t h e time , when t h e East cannot ignoret h e We st and t h e We st cannot ignore t h e East .
One of t h e obj e cts of th is gathering is to discusst h e form which that common prayer should take ,
and t h e different proposals and suggestions would
be finally considered at t h e next sitting of t h e All
India Hindu Conference to be he ld at Mattura
from t h e 22nd to th e 26t h March, 1 91 6, which will
ultimate ly de cide as to t h e form to be accepted
by all .
Th e D en S amay'
is a socie ty founded in 1 887
at L ahore by Sri D e v Guru Bhagwan,a Brahman
of t h e Cawnpore district . Th e members be lie ve
that.
t h e universe consists of matter and force ,which are inde structible and have existed e ternally .
Force by its own motion produces change in matter
and be comes change d itse lf in this manner liv ingand non-living forms appe ar and disappe ar. There
is no Cre ator and no Supreme Be ing . Matter is
divided into four parts name ly — Inorganic sub
stances, vege tables, animals, and mankind ; all of
the se are close ly conne cte d , and t h e last thre e
gradually evolve out of t h e first . Man’
s life -force
1 40 FA I THS ,FA IRS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
is h is soul , and this, with h is body, be ing part of
th e universe , is subj e ct to th e law of change . Th e
soul can thus de ve lop forbetter or for worse accord
ing to th e force s which affe ct it . If t h e soul h as
strength , it assumes a finer form after t h e de ath
of t h e body , and , if it is we ak, it is liable to be come
e xtinct , but it can go through transformation .
Th e Obje ct of a member must be to obtain suchhigh deve lopment of h is soul that it will enter th e
highe st life and thus obtain fre edom from th e
power of all degenerating force s. Persons, wh o
fulfil certain conditions, are admitted to t h e socie ty
on taking a number of vows regarding t h e le ading
of a moral life and t h e observation of certain social
rule s, which include t h e proper upbringing and
e ducation of male and female children, t h e he lping
ofothers irre spe ctive of caste , cre ed, or colour.
Th e ModernHindu. A large proport ion ofthose
Hinduswho have re ce ive d e ducation on Western line shave abandoned the irbelie f in t h e gods ofHinduism ;
numbers have given up many of t h e old customs,such as th e wearing of th e choti , and do not takepart in t h e periodical fairs and festivals ; some
mere ly be lieve in t h e e xistence of a Supreme Be ingand perhaps in transm igration of souls othersattempt to accommodate the ir systems to t h e .
ne eds of modern tim es.
1 42 FA I THS'
, FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
t h e rest of Asia , where it yet remains t h e re ligion,
or part of t h e re ligion, of‘
over five hundred millions
of people . It is still professed by th e Burmese ,
and it lingers in th e south -e ast of Bengal and in
th e Himalayas ne ar Tibe t and Nepal. For these
re asons, and be cause its birth -place was in India
proper, Buddhism is dealt with among th e Fai ths
of India .
”
There is some uncertainty about th e exact date
of Gautama’
s birth, but h e is generally believed
t o have be en born about 557 B .C. From an e arly
age h e indulged in me ditation , inste ad of joining
in games with other boys and amusing himse lf
a fter t h e fashion of young princes ; as a youth h e
d isplaye d some skill in manly sports and at th e
age of ninete en , in th e manner then usual , won
h is wife at a tournament of chie fs. Ten ye arslater his only son, Rahula , was born,
and it was att his time that h e de cide d to forsake h is home and
be come an asce tic in t h e jungle . One evening , .
having discarded h is prince ly robes and shaved hishe ad, h e clothe d himse lf in rags, mounte d a horse
,
and set off with a single attendant . After riding
throughout th e ni ght h e sent th e man home wi th
h is ste ed and proce ede d on foot alone , to le ad
thence forth th e li fe of a religious mendicant . Thisact was regarded as extremely meritorious and
virtuous, and th e event i s known as th e Gre atRenunciation .
For a ye ar or‘
so, Gautama attached himse lf totwo Brahman teachers, and then, forth e Space of six
B UDDH I SM . 43
ye ars, h e practised austeritie s in a forest ne arGaya,along with five other asce tics. This period ofse lf
mort ificat ion, however, brought h im no satisfaction
h e h ad not discovered t h e se cre t of th e soul ; h e
could re tain no pe ace Of mind while th e problemremained unsolved , and towards t h e end , h e deve lop
ed a state of re li gious de spair, during which h e was
forsaken by hi s five companions. Gre at Was t h e
re lie f which finally came to h im when, sittingbeneath a Bo-tre e (Pipul, ficus re ligiosa) , orth e tre e
of knowledge ,”h e suddenly be came enlightened ”
regarding t h e Gre at Truth, whichwasto influenceso many millions of h is fe llow-cre atures.
Th e idea which h ad thus entered th e mind of
Buddha— as h e may nowbe called—consisted offour
p arts Worldly existence must always be . painful
suffering is caused by de sire ; th is can only be
t erminated by attaining t h e state of Nirvana , or
extinction of t h e soul such can be achieved
by good!
conduct .
Th e be lie f, which thus arose , re cognizes no
Supreme God , and god is only what man himse lf
can be come by h is own acts, or karma. Trans
m igrat ion ofth e soul through a series of bodie swas,however, admitted .
Having acquired t h e knowledge for which h e
h ad striven so e arnestly, Buddha de cided to acquaint
others with th e true me thod of attaining Spiritual
de li verance . He commenced his public te achings
in t he DeerForest ne arBenare s, th e first converts
be ing t h e five asce tics of h is exile . Others followe d
1 44 FA I THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
the ir e xample , and h e soon obtained a large number
ofdisciples, whom h e despatched in all directions as
missionaries to preach th e new cre ed . Th e Buddhi sts
gradually resolved themse lve s into two classes
t h e Upasaka , or laymen , wh o performe d worldly
duties, and t h e Sramauas, or asce tics, wh o strove
for e arly admission into Nirvana .
There were five moral interdictions for both
classes, namely
Do not take li fe ; ste al not do not commit
adultery avoid lying re frain from drinking strong
liquor.
For th e asce ti cs there were five more
Do not e at out of se ason abstain from enter
t ainments ; do not use ornaments or perfume s
avoid comfortable beds ; ne verre ce ive gold orsilver.
Th e virt ues considered ne ce ssary for th e gainingof th e goal were charity, moral ity
,patience ,
fortitude , meditation,and knowle dge .
During a period of forty-four ye ars Buddhapre ached throughout th e tract now known as t h e
Unite d Provinces, and h e died about 487 B .C. , at
the age of e ighty, after having led a pious and
exemplary life .
Th e gre at Emperor Asoka , who rule d over th egre ater part of India for more t han forty ye arsfrom 272 B C was re sponsible for th e spre ad of
Buddhism as a world -re ligion. Wh en Gautama
died , Buddhism was in its infancy, but Asokaestablished it as a State re ligi on h e colle ct ed t heliterature then e xisting and put it into order; h e
1 46 FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Th e Buddhist Scriptures.
There are two colle ctionsof ancient sacred books
of Buddhism .
Th e best known are those pre serve d in Ceylon ,
called t h e Tripi taka (Thre e Baske ts) from th e
manner in which t h e volume s were originally kepttoge th er. Th is colle ction ,
which is known as t h e
Le sser Ve h icle s (Hinayana) , was t h e re sult of
a council of Buddhists he ld at Pataliputra on t h e
Ganges under t h e dire ction of t h e Emperor Asoka ;it is about twice t h e length of th e Bible and is
written in Pali . These documents are said to have
be en taken to Ceylon by Mahendra ,t h e son of
Asoka ,when h e v isite d that island as a re ligious
mendicant and converte d t h e people .
Th e first part , called Viuaya-pi taka , contains
rulesfor t h e e xternal life oft h e monks. The se cond ,or Sutta—pi laka , consists of several works, e ach
composed of short sayings or sutras, legends and
storie s about Buddha and oth ers.
Th e third conta ins a number of disquisitions.
Th e most intere sting of all th e se is t h e Dham~
mapada , or Path ofVirtue ,’
for it isof e xcept ional
literary merit and is be lie ved to have be en composed
by Budd-ha himse lf .
Th e teachings of t he Hinayana lite rature are
followed by t he Buddh ists of Ceylon, Burma , and
S iam.
Th e other colle ction of Buddhist scriptures is
termed t h e Mahayana , or Gre ater Ve hicle it
B UDDHI SM . 1 47
c onsists of voluminous writings in Sanskrit , wh i chsom e believe to have be en brought toge ther at a
much later date than t h e Ceylon documents ; storiesre garding Buddha are introduced which have no
place in t h e otherbooks and inde ed have a semblanceto some of those in t h e New Te stament . The sebooks be came th e scriptures of t h e Buddhi sts Of
the north . Th e Tibe tans, in t h e fifte enth century,adopte d t h e organi zation of t h e Roman Catholi c
Church, with a pope , cardinal , pre late , bishops,abbots, prie sts, monks, and nuns ; infant baptism,
c onfirmation, inve stiture , masses for t h e de ad,litan ie s, chants, rosarie s chaple ts, candles, holy
wat er, processions, saints days, and fasts were all
introduce d .
In Tibe t and Nepal there are a numbe r of
branches of t h e Mahayana , such as th e B ajrayana
(Thunderbolt School) , S ahajayana (Easy School),Mantrayana (Mystic Formula School) , and K ala
chakrayana (Se ct of t h e Whe e l of Time ).
Modern Buddh ism.
Nowadays Buddhism is perhaps seen at i ts best
in Burma , where t h e people'
are taught by th e
monks to le ad peace able lives and to do good to
the ir ne ighbours.
Every Burmese boy ,wh o is not sent to
i
a
G overnment school , at tends a monastery from th e
age of e ight for a course of instruct ion in re ading
and writing and of general training in th e pre ce pts
of Buddhism.
1 48 FA I THS ,FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
At t h e age of twe lve or there abouts h e enters
holy orders as a novice , this be ing effe cted by
”me ans of a ceremony like baptism, through which
t h e ,
youth re ce ives a new name clothe s are dis
carded, h is he ad is shaved , h e re cite s certain prayers
to re ce ive admission to th e order,” that h e may
achieve perfe ction and finally enter t h e holy state
of Nirvana , or Nehban as it is called in Burma ;
he then re ce ive s ye llow garments and a beggar’
s
bowl from th e he ad of t h e monastery, and th e
ceremonies conclude with a fe ast at t h e house of
hi s parents.
Th e stay at one of these institutions is usually
not longer than about six months if t h e novice
intends to remain a layman but , if h e de cide s to
le ad a religious life ,h e h as to enterupon a prolonged
course of study of Buddhist literature .
In a Burme se monastery t h e daily routine is
strict . Th e community is arouse d shortly be fore
daylight by t h e tolling of a large be ll, and , afterablutions, e ach member recites a few formulasrefle cting upon th e goodness of Buddha in having
reve ale d th e me thod by which perfe ction can be
attained and salvation thus se cured .
After a slight me al, all t h e monks visit t h ene ighbouring habitations in proce ssion to re ce ivedole s of food in the ir bowls. On the irre turn offerings are made to t h e image ofBuddha and bre akfast
is th en e aten. Th e day is taken up by ceremonial
v isits, th e study of Buddhist writings and other
work, meditation and t h e te aching of t h e novices.
FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
One of th e most wonderful groups of buildings.
in t h e world is th efi
Royal Monastery outside
Mandalay . Each part of it is intricate ly carved,
and th e whole is highly de corate d with gilt and
small pi e ce s of looking-glass arranged in Mosai c
fashion. Even t h e village monasterie s are fine
structures, and many of the se buildings possess a
richness of wooden carving which is unequalle d in
any other country .
Th e Pagodas are th e churche s of Burma they
are locally known as Zaydee , or t h e place of
offering.
’ Each must contain a re lic or some
sacred obje ct , such as a golden image of Buddha
th ey are generally constructed with dome s, Shaped
li ke inverted be lls th e Spire on th e t op is usually
capped by a klee, or umbre lla . Here t h e public
attend for prayer and on certain days —se le cte d fore ach pagoda— there is fe asting and merry-making,
with illuminations in t h e , e vening . Sunday h as
be come a holiday and fe stival in Lower Burma .
Th e building and maintenance of monasterie sand pagodas are regarded as pious acts, and largesums are frequently Spent on them and on t h e
images of Buddha , which abound in every part '
of
Burma .
Th e finest ofth e pagodas are th e Shway DagohnPayah at Rangoon, which is said to contain e ight
hairs and other re lics of Gautama , and th e temples .
at Mandalay, Pagahn , Pe gu ,Prome , and Shway Goo.
On th e stepsof these may ordinarily be se en le pers,cripples, nuns in white robes, and others, wh o in
B UDDHI SM . 1 51
plaint ive tone s call out for alms. During a fe stivalt h e assemblage at th e Shway Dagohn iswe ll worthse e ing, for t h e brightly dre ssed crowd ofboth sexes.
gathered on and around t h e platform and steps of
this magnificent edifice , forms, with its se tting,a wonderful picture .
Buddhism was primarily intended to be fre e
from idolatry , and in t h e monasteries t h e peopleare taught mere ly to repe at formulas and prayersfor the ir own irnprovement they are not supposedto worship e ither images or re lics, but there is
little doubt that th e masses actually worship Buddhaand say the ir prayers and make the ir offerings tot h e material obje cts which they se e be fore them .
Many of t h e more ignorant people actuallyascribe miracle s to particular image s and others
be lie ve in Nats, or nature spirits, some of which
are supposed to reside in t h e inferior he avens, like
t h e D evas of th e Vedic mythology ,while some are
be lie ve d to exist in the air, t h e water,and t h e
forests.
Th e superstit ions of t h e aboriginals still remain
and exercise considerable influence over th e masse s
in Burma , just as they do in India notwithstanding
t h e te achings of th e priests, demons and evi l Spirits
are propitiate d by th e ere ction of little shrine s, t h e
making of offerings, th e we aring Of charms, and
otherpractice s.
In Burma there is no re ligious ceremony for
marriage , and the monksare not calle d in to officiate
as they are in S iam and in otherBuddhist countries.
1 52 FAI THS , FA IRS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
On t h e occasion of a de ath, howe ver, it is
otherwise prie sts are“then invited and th ey repe at
prayers to drive away evil spirits and to purify th e
house offerings are made to them and th e corpse
i s there after cremate d .
Th e obsequies of a monk are ce lebrated with
gre at pomp , for on h is de ath h e is supposed t o
re turn to one of th e he avens. Th e corpse of a
Phon-
gyee is enclosed in a gorge ous cofli n and this
13 conveyed with much ceremony to a highly de co
rate d structure , which is usually of enormous pro
portions and made of te ak-wood , bamboo, cloth ,and other materials h ere t h e body lie s in statefor perhaps several months, while it is v isite d bylarge numbers of pilgrims, wh o make offerings of
fruit , flowers,and money . Finally gre at quant ities
Of combustibles are placed in th e centre oft h e edificeand t h e whole is se t on fire by m e ans of fireworks
in th e pre sence of a large Concourse . Th e ashes arecolle cte d and buried, but no tomb or shrine isere cte d over them .
Buddhism , in its Tibe tan form,is still th e
religion of th e people of Spiti in th e e ast of th e
K angra district . There it is practically fre e fromHinduism, but gre atly impregnated with th e
indigenous demonology oft h e mountains. There arealso a number of Buddhists in . t h e ne ighbouringtract called Lahul .
Th e Tibe tan lamas, or monks
,are divided into
thre e se cts : t h e Nyingpa , wh o we ar re d garmentsand observe celibacy ; th e Dokpa , wh o also clothe
1 54 FA I THS , FA IRS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
in th e prayer quote d above there are six syllables
which represent the se six kinds of existence and
e ach of these h as a Special colour.
Om Gods White .
Ma Titans .Blue .
Ni Mankind '
.Ye llow.
Pad Be asts . Gre en .
Me Ghouls . .Red .
Hung He ll Black .
The se colours are frequently used in t h e sacre d
banners, and some t ime s t h e prayer is to be se en
with e ach syllable painte d in its distinctive colour.
Th e prayer-whe e ls in t h e monasteries are also occa
sionally painted in this manner.
Th e interiors of t h e chape ls attache d to monas
t eri es are e laborate ly de corate d with frescoe s of
divinitie s, saints, and demons, and some t ime sconta in quaint picture s brought back from Lhasa
by monks wh o have taken t h e degre e of gelong
there .
Th e D alai L ama , or Pope of Lhasa ,is he ld
in t h e gre ate st re spe ct by the se pe ople , for h e is
considered to be an incarnation of Buddha .
CHAPTER XIII .
JAI'NI SM .
THE Jains are a se ct , wh ich arose out of
Brahman ism by a re ligious movement probably
founde d in t h e sixth century B .C. by a J ina
(spiritual conqueror) named Parsvanath. Th e
re ligion, so form ed , appe ars to have‘
be en re formed
by Mahavira (gre at hero) , a cont emporary of
Gautama Buddha ; inde ed th e two re ligions of
Jainism and Buddhism have much in common,
which tends to show that they took the ir rise int h e same age .
Th e Jains deny th e divine origin and infallibility
of t h e Ve da ; the y reverence certain saints or holy
mortals, wh o acquire d , by se lf-denial and morti
ficat ion, a status superior to that of t h e gods and
they lay gre at stress upon t h e preservation of animal
life . They consider that t h e world is forme d of
e ternal atoms and that it h as e xiste d and will exist
e ternally . They be lie ve in an e verlasting abode ,where t h e soul , or jiva (meaning life is de livered
from t h e ne cessity of transmigration, but it doe s not
be come absorbed in t h e universal spirit . No ,
attention is pai d by them to any Supreme God and
they worsh ip th e saints, or finas, wh o sojourn in
t h e ble ssed abode .
1 56 FA I THS ,FA IRS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
There are said to be twenty-four Jinas in e ach
of thre e age s of enormous le ngt hs namely in th e
past , th e pre sent , and th e future ages.
Th e twenty-four Jinas, or Tirthankaras as
they are commonly termed, of t h e pre sent age are
as follows
Nam e . Place ofbirth . Symbol.
1 Adi orRish abh a Ayodhya2 A j ita D o.
S ambh ava. Sawanta
Abh inandana AyodhyaSum at i D o .
Padmaprabh a K ausambh i '
Suparsva B enare s
Ch andraprabh a Ch andripur
Suv i dh a or Kakendrapuri
Push padanta .
S itala B adalpur
S indhCh am p apuri
Kump alapuri
AyodhyaRatanpuri
S anta
2 0 Muni -Suvrata Rajgriha2 1 Nim i Mi th ila2 2 Nem i D h arika
2 3 Parsva B enares
24 Mahavira or Chi trakotVardham ana .
To all ofthese name smay be added t h e affixNath ,which is th e Sanskrit for Lord thusAdi be comesAdinath and Parsva is known asParsvanath.
Gujerat . B ull .
Mt . S ikhar Elephant.(Parasnath )
D o . Horse .
D o . Monkey .
D o . Curlew .
D o . Re d L otus.
D O . Swastica .
D o . Cre scent.D O . D olphin .
WishingTre e .
D o . Rhinoceros.
Ch amp apuri B uffalo .
Mt . S i khar B oar.
D o . B e ar.
D o . S pi kedClub .
D e e r.
G oat.Fish .
WaterVessel .
D o. Tortoise .
D o. B lue L otus.
Mt . G irimara Conch .
Mt . S ikhar S erpent.Pawapuri L ion .
1 58 FAI THS ,FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
they are required to carry fe athers from a pe acock’
s
tail in the ir hands.
Th e Svetambaras continue to we ar white robesthey allow that t h e gentle sex can gain admissionto th e e ternal abode , but t h e D igambaras deny this.
There are nowadays asce tic (Yati ) as we ll as lay(Sravaka) Jains t h e former are some times colle cted
in Pasala (monasteries) , but ne verofli ciate as priestsin th e temple s, where t h e ceremonie s are conducte d
by a layman,or by a Brahrnan trained for t h e
purpose .
Th e Yalis c arry brushe s to swe ep t h e groundb e fore they tre ad or sit upon it they use spiked
shoes, wear cloth over t he ir mouths and nose s,
and never e at nor drink in the dark ; all ofthe secustoms be ing obse rve d in order to avoid destru ct ionofinse ct life . They we ar th e ir haircut short
, or
plucked out from t h e roots, and practise cont inenceand poverty . There are also female Yalis.
The Jains of t h e present day be lieve in nine
Tattva, or‘ truths.
’
I . J iva, or‘ life , consists of (a) animals, men ,
demons, and gods and (b) e arth , water, air, fire , and
the vege table kingdom . Life hasno be ginning nore nd through sin it passe s into animals ; through
v irtue and vice combined it ente rs men through
virtue alone it enters th e ble sse d abode .
2 . Afri ca, or inaction,
’
comprises objects,
devoid of consciousness and life . Ne ither of th esetwo can ever be destroyed, although the ir formsmay vary.
JA INI‘
SM . r59
3 . Punya , or‘
good ,’
is whatever causes happi
ne ss to living be ings.
4. Papa , or‘ ill ,
’
is t h e cause of man’
s un
happine ss.
5. Asm ud is t h e source from which e vi l actsof living be ings proce ed .
6. S amvam is t h e cause by whi ch acts are store d
up or impe de d .
7. Nirgam is t h e observance of penance for
d estruction of moral impurity .
8. B andha is t h e association of life wit h acts.
.9. M aksh a is t h e liberat ion of t h e soul fromt h e bonds of act ion ; it me ans a profound calm or
a pathy but not annihilation . Moksha is obtaine d
by corre ct conduct (samyag cle ar
Iknowle dge”(samyag-jnana) , and right fait h
(samyag For corre ct conduct t h e Yati ,orJ aina asce tic , must ke ep h isfive vows, namely
I . Not to destroy life .
2 . Not to lie .
3. Not to ste al.
4. To be chaste and temperate in thought , word,and dee d.
5. To desire nothing in t his world immoder
a te ly.
For t h e laymen t h e rules are not so strict,but
t hey must observe them to some e xtent ; they
are bound t o be faith ful to the ir wive s and not to
gain we alth by unfair me ans ; they may not e at
me at nor any other“food , such as honey, involvingde struct ion of animal life , and liquor must be
1 60 FA I THS ,FA I RS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
avoided . Curiously enough they are forbidden to
plough th e e arth, or e ven to cause others to do so, .
for th is may involve injury to life .
Most of the se regulations are followed somewhat
strictly by Jains, with t h e re sult that th e class, as a.
whole , is exceptionally we ll-be haved and they are
most humane membersofsocie ty . Caste is observed
to a certain extent , but there is no general class
reserve d for prie sthood, although they employ
Brahmans some times. In t h e north and we st of’
India Jains are mostly an e ducated class, engaged
in commerce ; in th e south, notwithstanding t h e ruleagai nst ploughing, large numbers are agriculturists.
Th e principal Jain'
temple s are remarkable forthe ir e laborate structure and pe culiar architecture .
Th e chie f place s of pilgrimage for Jains are
situate in t h e midst of be autiful scenery on hill
sides and pe aks.
Palitana , or th e Abode of t he Pali ,’
is t h e townat th e foot of th e sacre d mountain Satrunjya .
(victorious over th e foe ) , on which Jains from all
over India have ere cte d temple s, small and large ,
sacred to Mahavira . Th e hill , which rises to a .
h e ight of about fe e t , is situate d ne ar t h e Gulf
of Cambay in Kathiawar ; it forms an abode oi'
th e gods, for it contai ns no habitations, save th erooms occupie d by th e prie sts and care -takerssome of the temples have large halls, th e roofs oi
'
which are supported by carved columns, e ach oi'
different design, and they are profuse ly ornamented .
in marble all contain one or more marble ~
1 62 FAI THS ,FA IRS , AND FE S TI VALS .
anta end These were brought toge ther by
Devarddh i about th e sixth century AD . at Vallabh i ,
th e ancient capital of a State in Rajputana, which
was sacked by Scythian invaders in 524AD . Th e
works were probably compose d about t h e end of
th e fourth and t h e be ginning of th e third centuries
B .C. and , in th e manner then usual in India , were
repeated by word ofmouth until they were finally
re corded . Other older works, called Purva, are
also said to have be en in existence be fore these ;but they were lost . Th e present books are partly
in Sanskrit and partly in Magadh i Prfikri t.
CHAPTER XIV.
S IKHI SM.
Meaning of Sikh .— Th e term S i kh means
disciple , and expre sse s th e close dependence of
this se ct on th e ir Gum s or‘ te achers.
’
Th e name
is dire ctly obtaine d from th e root of t h e Hindiword sikhna , to le arn
’
; wh ile Guru is a termderived from th e Sanskrit root gri , to utter words.
’
Th e Founder of Sikhism .
— S ikhi sm (or Guruismas it might be cal led) was founde d by a re ligiousre former named Nanak of th e Bedi tribe , who wasborn at t h e village Talwandi , on t h e river Ravi
ne ar L ahore , in t h e ye ar 1 469 A .D .
Nanak’s Predecessors.
— Nanak was not th e
originator of an entire ly new faith , but aimed at
purifying th e re ligions which h e found e xisting
in th e Punjab . He base d h i s te achings on those
of hi s pre de ce ssors Jaidev ,Ramanand, and Kabir,
but espe cial ly upon t h e pre achings of t he latter.
Jaidev, t h e author of Gita Govind, taught , at
th e close of t h e twe lfth century AD th e worship
of God alone in thought , word, and de ed ; sacrifices
and austerit ie s, h e de clared , were worth nothing
compared with th e re pe tition of God’
s name .
Ramanand founded , in t h e thirte enth century , a
se ct of Hindus whose main idea was t h e worship
of Vishnu under th e form of Rama, hero of the
1 64 FAI THS , FA I RS ,AND . FES TI VAL S .
Ramayana , wh o is regarded by th e great Hindu
military racesas the ir particular patron saint , or
war-god , owing to h ismarve llous victory over th edemon Ravana and h is legions.
Kabir, whose sayings were constantly quoted
by Nanak and h is succe ssors, was a we aver, wh olived at Benares in th e latter part of th e fifte enth
century. Although said to have be en a Musalmanby birth, h e h ad no re al sympathy with th e Muslimsand in th e end be came a pupil of Ramanand. He
denounced idolatry, ridiculed t h e Shastras and
Puranas, and taugh t Vaishnai sm as a form of
strict monothe ism , with devotion to one god, called
Vishnu, under such name s as Rama and Hari ; h e ,however, de clare d that th e god of th e Muslims wast he same as that of th e Hindus
,and in this way
attempted to bridge t h e gulf be tween Hinduism and
Islam .
When Kabirdie d there wassome difii culty regard
ing t h e disposal of h is corpse , for both HindusandMusalmans laid cla im to it while th e wrangling
was in progre ss h e suddenly appe are d and told
them t o look under th e shroud on doing so the y
found a he ap of flowers— K abir h ad disappe are d.
Thereupon t h e Hindus gathere d up half t h e
flowers and cremated them , and th e Musalmans
burie d th e rema inder at Puri in Orissa , where a
monastery was ere ct ed in h is honour.
Guru Nanak.—Nanak taught h is followers to
be lieve in one God— ne ither Allah nor Ram,
but simply God— th e cre ator of th e universe and
1 66 FA I THS ,FA IR S ,
AND FESTI VAL S .
tank , and th e large city, which h as sprung up round
this sacred spot , h as since be en regarded as th e
he adquarters of t h e S ikhs. Guru Arjan is also
distinguished as t h e compiler of t h e holy book,th e Adi Granth (First Book) , th e materials forwhich h e h ad re ce ive d from h is father. He establish ed a system of tax-colle ct ing from adherentsof th e faith and ,
afterAkbar’
s death, incurre d th edisple asure of th e Emperor Jehangir, who, con
sidering that th e S ikhs were gai ning too muchpower, threw h im into prison, where h e shortly
afterwards died .
Th e live s of th e next thre e Gurus were com
parat ive ly uneventful, but th e ninth Guru ,
Teg Bahadur; attracted th e attention of th e fanatical Emperor Aurangzeb , wh o summoned h im
to De lhi , where h e was exe cuted without re ason
in 1675. This act turned th e Sikhs from a quie t
re forming se ct into a v igorous nation of fighting
men under th e tenth and last Guru, th e warlikeSodhi Govind S ingh , son of Teg Bahadur.
Guru Govind S ingh calle d h is followers K halsa'
(from th e Arabic khalas, pure and dire cted
th em to attach th e word S ingh , or Lion,
’to the ir
names, so as to emphasize the ir military nature .
He followed Nanak in te aching of th e one god
Vishnu,in re j e cting caste and de claring equality
among men, but h e consolidated h is people by
introducing a ceremony of initiation and framing a set of regulations suitable for a militaryrace .
S IKHI SM . 1 67
Th e Five Signs—Five outward signs were gi vento h is followers in th e following five Ks
r. K es, uncut hair.
K achh , drawers like shorts.
K ara, an iron bangle . kamlau,
M aia, a two-edged knife or dagger.
Khanga , a comb .Vi
e
w
?
He directed an occasional bath for purificationin t h e holy lake at Amritsar and gave as a watchword
'
Srz'
wah guru i i ka khalsa , Sri wah guru i i kifatal! , which means khalsa ofGod
,victory to God .
’
Th e we aring of ste e l and th e use of arms wereordere d , while th e use of tobacco in any form was
prohibited.
Ri te of Initiation—Th e rite of initiation ,
which is called Khdmla ka Pahul (two-edge d
kni fe ceremony) , consists of baptism with waterin which sugar is di ssolve d th e mixture is stirred
with th e khanda and a portion is sipped five times
by e ach new disciple , t h e remainderbe ing Sprinkled
by five e lders over five parts of th e init iate ’
s body,while h e takes an oath not to mix with certaine xcommunicated persons, not to worship idols, to
re vere and bow to no one except a Sikh Guru, and
ne ver to turn h is back on a foe . At th e conclusion
of th e ceremony karah parshad (a mixture of
flour, sugar, and ghee ) is distributed to‘ those
Th e Palm! can be taken dire ct ly a boy arrives
at ye ars of discret ion—about th e age of seven
1 68 FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
but it is generally de ferred until later. After
initiation t h e five Ks must be worn and th e name
S ingh used .
Th e Akalis. After th e de a th of Guru Govind
S ingh th e Khalsa body is said to have be en tempo
rarily ruled by an asce tic named Banda ,but it
subsequently fe ll under th e dire ction of a militarycorporation of ze alots, known as Akalz
'
, or Fa ithful
of th e Eternal ,’
wh o be came guardians of th e
sanctuary at Amritsar, where Guru Arjan’
s
origina Granth was pre served .
Th e Akali s were Sikh fanatics wh o aime d at
carrying out th e te achings of Guru Gov ind to t h ele tter and e ven be lieved themse lves justified in
putting any opponent of then re ligion to th e sword“
.
They wore a blue uniform wi th a tall blue pugre e ,
ornamented with ste el quoits and other ste e l
we apons, and the y often went profuse ly arme d ,carrying some times as many as five swords. Th e
five Ks were of course imperative .
These violent enthusiasts gave Ranj it S ingh a
considerable amount of trouble , but h e at length
mastered them , and , nowadays, those wh o call
themse lve s and dre ss as Akalz'
s are few and far
be twe en and are mostly harmless individuals.
Re lapse to Hinduism. Except for respect paid
to cows, other practices of t h e Hindus were pract i
cally abolished at th e time of th e tenth Guru , but
since then there h as be en a tendency for S ik hs to
join in Hindu festivals and ceremonies caste h as to
some extent be en re -i-ntroduced , and nowadays some
I 7O FA I THS ,FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Seats— It is difficult to classify th e pe 0 p1e who
now call themselve s S ikh into definite se cts, but
generally we may sort them into four divisions :
I . Th e followers of Guru Nanak .
2 . Th e disciple s of Guru Govind S ingh , known
as K esdham'
s (hai r-wearers) .
3 . Persons wh o profe ss t o follow one of th e
Gurus, or th e claimants to t h e position of Guru .
4. Those wh o,while profe ssingdevotion to th e
tene ts of one or more of th e Gurus, and perhaps
calling themse lve s S ingh , are almost indist in
guish able from ordinary Hindus.
Th e Udasis are t h e genuine disciple s ofNanak ,
and form a society ofmonkswh o re j e ct th e Granthof Gov ind S ingh and accept only th e Adi Granth.
They were e stablished by Dharma Chand , th e
e lde st son of Nanak . They de vote themse lve s to
prayer and meditat ion and colle ct in monasterie s
under separate Gurus.
Th e Udasis are generally we ll dressed and do
not solicit alms, while celibacy is not imperative .
Th e initiation ceremony consists in th e apprenticewashing t h e gre at .
toe s of five Udasis and thendrinking th e water so used ; it is not surprisingthere fore that only a few of this se ct now remain.
Th e Kesdharis include th e Govind S ingh is, th eHazuris, and D ivane Sadhus.
Th e Hazuris are those S ikhs wh o have paid a
visit to Hazur Sahib in Hyderabad , De ccan,where
Guru Govind Singh died, and have be en initiated
there . Th e name is somewhat similar to th e title
S IKH SECTS . 1 7r
of Haj i ,”which is given to a Musalman wh o h as
performed th e Haj or pilgrimage to Mecca .
Th e Govind Singh is are th e strict followers of
th e Guru from whom they take the ir name ; they
invariably we ar th e kes and generally th e otherfour Ks and they observe as far as possible th eother restrictions ordaine d by the ir Guru.
Th e Divane Sadhus (Mad Saints) keep the irhai r long like th e true S ikhs, and they go about insmall parties, we aring few clothes ; they favourne cklace s of she lls and carry a large fe ather forthe ir he ad-dress.
Th e Khalsa, or Tat K halsa , includes those whoadhere to th e command of Guru Govind Singh
that th e Granth is to be considered th e! ;Guru . Th e
principal institution ofthis body is th e Chie f Khalsa
D iwan ,which h as its headquart ers at Amritsar
with an e le cted committe e and with branches in
m ost parts of India , which are called Khalsa
D iwans ”in important centre s and S ingh Sabbas!
in th e smaller towns and village s.
Th e obj e cts of this socie ty are
I . To work for th e Spiritual , inte lle ctual , moral ,
social , and material be tterment of t h e members.
2 . To propagate th e te achings of th e Granth
and of th e Guru B am’
(th e t en Gurus’
sayings) .
3. To repre sent t h e claims of t h e Khalsa to
Government .
This socie ty h as no conne ction with th e manage
ment of t he Golden Temple , e xcept that th e
managerof that institution is ex-officio a memberof
1 72 FA I THS ,FAIRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
t he ir chie f committe e . They , however, regard that
Temple as the ir Holy of Holies.
Th e Nirmala Sadhus (Pure Saints); observe ce libacy and we ar few clot hes ; t hey were formerly
like Udasis, but they have now adopted reddish
ye llow, inste ad of whit e robes, and are e xpounders
of th e Ve danta philosophy .
By far t h e gre ater number of persons callingthemse lve s S ikhs have , at th e late st census, notspe cified themse lves as be longing to any particular
se ct , but they generally we ar t h e kes and re frain
from t h e use of tobacco .
Th e Sacred Books.
There are two holy books of th e S ikhs. Th e
Adi Granth (First Book) is th e one mostly revered ,
and th e Dasma Padshad ka Granth (Book of t h e
Tenth K ing)! finds favour with th e more fanatical
se ction of th e community .
Th e Adi Granth was compi led by Arjan , th e
fifth Guru , from materials colle cted and partlycomposed by h is fathe r. It iswritten in Gurmukhi
and is divided into six parts :
I . Th e j apg’
i consists of verse s by Nanak ,used after th e morning bath.
2 . Th e S o D am is used at e vening prayer.
3 . Th e So Purkhu.
4. Th e Sohz’
la is for use be fore going,to sle ep.
5. Th e Rag, which are thirty-one in number,form t h e body of t h e book .
CHAPTER XV
ISLAM .
I slam is a faith which was introduced by th e
prophe t Muhammad in th e seventh century of the
Christian era .
Th e term Islam is derive d from t h e Arabic verb
salm h e wassaved ,’
and me ans absolute resignation
to th e will of God ; a follower thereof is calle d a
Muslim , or Mnsalman.
In t h e se cond chapter (Sum) of t h e Qomn
t he scripture of Islam— appears th e following
passage , which forms a concise summary of th e
c hie f principle s of thi s re ligion
It is not righte ousne ss that ye turn your face s
in prayer towards th e e ast and th e we st , butrighteousness is ofh imwh o believe th in God and th e
last day , and th e ange ls, and th e scriptures, and
th e prophets ; wh o give th money for God’
s sakeunto h is kindred, and unto orphans, and th e ne e dy ,
and th e stranger, and those wh o ask, and forredemption of captive s ; wh o is constant at prayer, and
give th alms ; and of t hose wh o perform the ircovenant , when they have covenanted, and wh o
be have themse lves patiently in adversity, and
hardships, and in time of violence .
”
I S LAM . 1 75
_
Th e five Observance s re quired of a Muslim are
briefly
I . Be lie f that t here is no god but Allah (God)and Muhammad is th e apostle of God .
2 . Prayer (Namaz) .
3 . Fasting (Roza) during Ramazan .
4. Alms-giv ing (Zn/eat) to a tenth of the ir
goods.
5. Pilgrimage to Me cca , once in a life time .
Th e first of the se is th e Qalima , or cre ed , of th eMuslim . Th e Qalim a , which is derived from various
verses in th e Qoran , consists of six se ctions z— Taz‘
b,
S hahadat, Tammi , Tauh id, I stighfar, and Rdd- i—a r.
Th e Tai b is L a-z’
llaha—z’
l Ullaho—Mnhammad
ar-Rasnl Ullah , or There is no de ity but God and
Muhammad is th e prophet of God .
’
Th e S hahadat is I testify there is no de ity but
God alone , without companion— and I te stify that
Muhammad is h is servant and prophe t .
”
. Muhammad , wh o founde d“
Islam, was th e
posthumous and only rema ining son of one Abdullaofth e Qore ish tribe , whose members were descended
from Abraham through Ismae l h is mother was
Amina , daughter of a man called Wahab of t h e
same tribe .
He was born at Me cca in 570 AD and shortly
afterwards his grandfather took h im to t h e Qaabn
then th e chie f temple of th e Arabian idolaters— and
there name d him Muhammad , or t h e f Praised One .
’
After h is grandfather’
s de ath, Muhammad,
wh o was st ill young, was cared for by Abu Talib,
1 76 FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
one of h is uncle s, and , while in hi s charge , ga ined
e xperience by accompanying h im on a trad ingjourney as far as Syria .
Th e young man re ce ived no education , but was
observant and spent much time in me ditation ;h e wasgiven to wandering in th e barren tract round
about Me cca , and for a short period acted as a
shephe rd .
When h e was twenty-five ye ars of age , K h adlja ,
a we althy Qore ish widow, engaged h im to takecharge of a caravan ,
and h e proce eded on a .
commercial journey to Bostra , not far from th e
Jordan in th e dire ction of Damascus. After this
excursion t h e couple fe ll in love with one anotherand shortly afterwards be came man and wife .
Kh adija was a good woman ,a lov ing companion ,
and an e xce llent mother, and , alt hough sh e wasmuch
older than h er husband , they live d toge thermost
happily, the ir only sorrow be ing th e loss of the ir
two sons in infancy .
As Muhammad advanced in ye ars h e showe d
signs of gre at inte lligence and was fre quentlyse le cted by t h e membe rs of h is tribe to de cidere ligious and other dispute s.
In t h e Qaaba there was a remarkable Black
Stone , which h ad always be en he ld sacre d by th eArabs. When th e t emple was be ing re store d , a
quarre l arose as to wh o should place it in i ts new
posit ion Muhammad was calle d in and h e se ttle dth e matter t o e veryone ’
s satisfact ion by puttinga shawl underne ath and dire cting t h e disputants
1 78 FA I THS ,FA I RS
,AND FES TI VA L S .
From t ime to time , as h e ne eded advice , furtherreve lations were vouchsafed to h im , and Muhammadh ad the se re corded by those of h is companionswh owere literate .
As might be expe cted , th e new faith me t with
much Opposition , and th e followers be came subje ct
to perse cution by the ir tribe smen in 62 2 A .D . th is
re ached such a pitch that most of them found it
e xpedient to le ave Me cca and move to Medina
(Yat hreb) , where they were we ll re ce ived . Shortly
afterwards Muhammad, against whom plots h ad
be en hatching, was also compe lled to depart . He
le ft se cretly with h is fai thful companion Abu Bekr
on th e night of th e 1 sth July, and , after a few
months spent in wandering, they made a triumphant
e ntry into Medina , where they joine d the ir friends.
This departure is called th e Hi jm , or Flight ,’
and th e Muslim era comm ence s from th e day after
i t .
At Medina th e first mosque was built and service swere started . After a time t h e number of followers
gre atly increase d, and Muhammad , alre ady th e
Prophe t of God , be came high priest , chie f magistrate , and , finally , ruler of t h e pe 0p1e .
In accordance with th e divine instructions,re ce ive d through th e ange l Gabrie l, th e Prophe t
now brought toge ther an army and commence d a
h oly war against idolaters and disbe li evers. Th e
famous centre ofMe cca'
fe ll into h is possession e arly
in 630 A .D . , that is, in th e e ighth ye ar after t h eFlight t h e idols in t h e Qaaba were imme diate ly
D EA TH OF .M UHA IVI JVIAD . 1 79
destroyed, and this famous temple was converted
into a mosque .
After considerable fight ing Muhammad consoli
date d hi s domini ons which, in t h e course of ten
years, h ad grown into an empire .
At th e age of sixty-two th e Prophe t fe lt h is enddrawing ne ar, but h e continued to le ad t h e prayersin t h e mosque at Medina until compe lle d to taketo h is bed . Duri ng this final illness h e e xpre sse da desire to be interre d at Medina , which had
given th e faith such a noble re ception . He h ad
long previously given out that h e was omere ly a
man, and h e now e xhorte d th e people not to make
h is tomb an obje ct of worship . Th e last words tofall from th e lips of this remarkable man werePardon me , O God ,
and unite me to t h e ble ssed
companionship on high .
”
Th e de ath of th e gre at . le ader caused a com
mot ion in th e land , and it be came ne cessary to
appoint a K hal ifa , or succe ssor, without de lay.
Muhammad le ft no son as he ir, and it was not th ecustom for a daughter to succe ed to a chie fship ;h e h ad given no instruct ions on th e subje ct , butduring h is last days h ad de pute d Abu Bekr to le ad
th e people at prayers, and after considerable dissen
sion th e choice fe ll upon this man , th e best of h is
friends.
It was this dispute which led to th e division of
th e Prophe t’
s followers into two distinct factions ;for there were those wh o re garded Abu Bekr, wi th
h is succe ssors Omar and Osman , as usurpers and
180 FAI THS , FAIRS ,AND FESTI VAL S .
considered that Ali , th e cousin and son- in-law of
Muhammad, should have be en appointed on t he
Prophe t’
s de ath and that one ofAl i’s sons Hassan
and Hossain should have followe d h im.
Ali subse quently came to t h e K halifate , but this
did not mend matters.
Be fore t h e end of t h e seventh century th e
Musalmans h ad spread abroad and carrie d the irfaith into th e north of Africa and part of Central
Asia .
Islam was introduced into India in t h e e ighth
century A .D . from th e north-west ; there after
succe ssive wave s of Muslim invasions rolle d into
t h e country from t h e same dire ct ion until th e latte r
half of t h e e ighte enth century . Th e conquerorsforced the ir re ligion upon t h e pe 0p1e ; it obtained
a gre at hold in t h e north ofIndia—from S indh andth e Punjab in the we st to Bengal in t h e e ast
but it did not influence so much th e more southerly
states, which, for th e most part , have rema ined
Hindu .
Many of th e Indian converts toIslam continue dto follow t h e customs pertaining to the ir originalfaith, and we even find Muslim families which be ar
both Hindu and Muslim name s. On t h e otherh and , t h e invaders adopte d many of th e Hindu
manners.
Thus the habits of Musalmans in Indi a differconsiderably from those of the irconfrere s in Arabia ,
Persia , Turkey , Egypt , and e lsewhere . Th e convertsmore over re tained, and t h e new-comers acquired,
CHAPTER XVI .
THE QORAN AND ITS DOCTRINES .
THE gospe l of Islam is t h e Goran, which me ans
that which ought to be re ad’
; it is always termed
Qoran S herif, or Holy Qoran ,
’ by Muslims.
Th e faithful believe that it was sent down by
God during t h e night of al Qadr into th e lowe st
he aven , whence it was reve aled in portions to
Muhammad , as occasion required , by t h e Ange l
Gabrie l. The re is some doubt as to th e e xact date
of this night , but most Muslims be lie ve i t to have
be en one in Ramazan and probably that which
falls betwe en t h e 26t h and 27th of t hismonth .
Th e communications thus made were re cited
by th e Prophe t and written by any literate follower,wh o h appened to be pre sent , on palm le aves, pie ces
of wood , and such like fragments. After Maham
mad’
s de ath, t h e various documents were colle cted,arrange d , and copied out .
In 650 A .D . t h e Khal if Osman h ad an auth ori
tat ive text prepared and all others were de stroyed ,
so t h e Qoran now re tains very much th e same formas that in which it was prepare d within nine te en
ye ars of t h e de ath of Muhammad .
Th e book is div ided into one hundre d and
fourte en sum s, or ch apte rs, e ach ofwhich is known ,
not by a number but by a title derived from some
important matter de alt with , or by a particular
THE QORAN . 1 83
word mentioned there in some times th e name
consists of one or more initial letters, t h e me anings
of which are often obscure . It iswri tten in Arabic
with extreme e legance and purity of language , and
is regarded by allMuslims asmiraculous, inimitable ,
and infinite ly sacred .
Muhammad be lie ved that h is mission was to
re store t h e ancient re ligion of Abraham ,ancestor
of th e Qore ish tribe t h e e ssence of th e Qoran
there fore is th e unity of He taught that
proph e ts were sent by God to le ad t h e pe 0 p1e into
t h e right way whenever they be came corrupt , or
negle cted th e true faith .
Many ofth e h istorical facts oft h e Old Te stament
are repeated in th e Qoran,and num erous traditions,
wh ich were prevalent in t h e days of Muhammad ,are introduced a gre at de al of th e book is taken up
with instructions as to right conduct in daily life
and e spe cially as to th e worship oft h e one true God ;there are also a number of passages explainingcircumstances, or events, which h appened during th e
life time of th e Prophe t , including h is own actions.
Islam may thus be said to consist of two distinct
parts, name ly, Iman or Fai t h ,
’
and D in or
Practice .
’
To have faith ,a true Muslim must not only
be lie ve in th e one God and h is absolute power, but
also in h is ange ls, h is prophe ts, h is scripture , in t h e
resurre ction , and in t h e day of judgme nt .
Among th e prophe ts, of whom there were many
thousands, th e se ven of most importance were
1 84 FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Adam,Noah (Noah ) , Abraham (I brah im) , Mose s
(Masa) , D av id (D and) , Jesus (I sa) , and Muhammad
t h e latter be ing th e gre ate st of all.
Musalmans be lieve that at de ath an ange l
separates th e soul from th e body and conveys it to
one of th e he avens. Th e soul of a prophe t proce eds
dire ct to paradise that of a martyr to another
comfortable place ofgre en pastures and there is a
difference ofOpinion regarding th e disposal of t h e
Spirit of an ordinary be liever some think that it
remains in a state of rest ne ar th e sepulchre , othershold that it stays with Adam in th e lowe st he aven
or near th e throne of God , and there are ye t others
who be lieve that it re side s in th e sacred we ll Zam
Zam at Mecca , th e waters ofwhich were considered
holy from ancie nt time s.
AS for th e souls ofth e wicked and ofdisbe lievers,they are thrust into he ll to re ce ive torment .
Th e general Opinion regarding t h e day ,
Of
judgment is that t h e soul will re join th e body and all
mankind will be called upon to account for the ir
actions. At th e conclusion ofth e gre at trial all
will pass over a bridge (sirat) , and those wh o have
done we ll will enter paradise (j annat) , and those
wh o have done ev il wi ll fall he adlong into Jahannam ,
or into one of t h e six other compartments ofhe ll.
Muslims are taught that there is a de v il name d
Satan, who uses h is influence to le ad persons astray ,
and ye t they be lieve in prede stination .
Th e Qoran enters into long descriptions Of th e
glory and fe licity of paradise ; t his he avenly abode
1 86 FA I THS , FA I RS ,AND FE S TI VAL S .
S imple toy but a comrade and friend ,only the n
can it be said that th e people among whom t h e
re lations of th e two sexe s are thus de ve loped are a
truly cultured race .
” Of Fatima h e says Sh e
h ad re ce ive d an education which place d h er on a par
with most of th e educated men in h er country .
Her character was one of unmingle d swe e tness
and gravity, which de epene d as sh e grew older
Sh e le ctured to mixe d congregations of bothsexe s Often in th e courtyard of h er house , and
some time s in th e public mosque . Many of h e r
sermons are still extant .
It is difficult to understand h ow th e strict
pardah system , now in vogue among Muslims in
India , came into force . Why is it that nowadays
women are not admitted into th e mosqu e s for
worsh ip ? Why are they shut up in zenanas, or
harems, and practically cut off from all intercoursewith the ir fe llow-be ings ? Such a proce dure is
certai nly not inculcate d in th e Qoran , for in t h e
chapter entitled L ight we re ad And spe akunto th e be lieving women , that they re strain the ireye s, and pre serve the ir mode sty, and discover not
th e ir ornaments, e xcept what ne cessarily appe are th
thereof and le t them throw the ir ve ils over the irbosoms, and not Show the ir ornaments, unless to
the ir husbands, and le t them: not m ake a noisewith the ir fe e t , that the irornaments which they hide
may thereby be discovered .
”Th e dire ctions con
tained in this passage would be entire ly unne ce ssary
if women were bound to remain in pardah , and there
THE QORAN . 1 87
is nothing in th e Qoran, e xcept as re gards t h e
Prophe t ’s own wive s, which prohibits t h e appe aranceofwomen in public , or re strai ns them from showingthe ir face s.
Apparently t h e origin of th is dre adful ban
upon t h e we aker sex is due to an e dict issued by
Qadir, th e Abbaside , which forbade women to
enter mosque s or colleges, or to appe ar in publicwithout t h e barka , and , as Syed Ame er Ali
says, “ With that commenced th e de cadence of
Islam .
Th e Qoran permits a man to have as many as
four wive s at a time , provided they are e qually
tre ated and love d by t h e husband ; t h e actual
words of th e Qoran are,If . y ou are afraid you
cannot do justice to all, then have only one , so
a man must also have sufficient me ans to support
t hem ; it prohibits marriage with in certain degre esof re lationship . No spe cial rite is laid down for
marriage , but in India it is customary for a nikah
khwan, ormarriage -re ader, wh o is usually a manlvi ,
to attend and , in t h e pre sence of t h e be trothed
couple and several other witnesse s, to re ad a few
verse s from t h e Qoran, after ascert aining that t h epartie s consent to t h e ceremony .
At t h e age of puberty Musalman girls have th e
right to repudiate be trot hals entere d into previously,but , be ing under control , they se ldom exercise it .
Widowsmay not marry again until four months
and t en days have passed and, if pregnant , must
wait until de livere d .
1 88 FA I THS ,FA I RS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
f'
D ivorce of a wife by a husband is permitted ,e ven on grounds of dislike , and is effe cted by hi s
mere ly saying, Thou art divorced but a woman
can only claim a divorce in very exceptional Circum
stances. Th e husband is dire cted to provi de ne ce s
sarie s for a divorced wife for th e period of i ddat, i .a. ,
t hre e lunar months after divorce , and h e may
remarry h er, but after divorcing one thre e time s
may not marry h er again , unless in th e me antimesh e h as married and be en divorced from some one
e lse or h as be come a widow.
There are many vice swhich are inve igh e d agai nst
in t h e Qoran , and from some of the se , such as
gaming and drinking, t h e majority of Muslims are
remarkably fre e . In t h e chapter entitled Th e
Table it is written : 0 true be lievers, sure ly wine
and lots, and images and divining arrows, are an
abomination of th e work of Satan there fore avoid
them , that ye may prospe r. Th e pious Muslimdoes not play a ny game of chance h e is fond of
che ss, or any game inwhich skill alone is required ,but t h e pie ce s used must be plain one s and not
in th e form of figures. Th e commandment Make
not to thyse lf any graven image is taken literally
by Muslims, wh o, in the ir art , re strict themse lve st o plant life and geome trical designs, avoidingshape s of animals.
Regarding money- lending it is de clare d that
Whate verye shall give in usury, to be an incre aseof men
’
s substance , shall not be incre ased by t h eblessing of God and The y wh o devour usury
1 90 FAI THS ,FA IRS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
2 . From th e de cline of th e sun to the e qualling
of th e shadow.
3. From t h e e qualling of th e shadow to sunse t .
4. From sunse t to darkening of t h e night .
5. From t h e darkening of th e night to dawn.
Prayers at t h e Id —a fe stival whi ch wi ll be
d escribe d in th e ne xt chapter— are sai d be twe en
th e rising of th e sun and noon, and it is customary
for a sermon to be pre ach ed after thi s service and
be fore th e Friday mid-day prayers.
Th e faithful are summoned to prayer by th e
mnazzim, or caller, wh o is spe cially appointed for“
th e purpose at large mosque s, or by th e mallah
or maulvi of th e smaller or village masjids. Th e
azan,l
or call , is p ronounced in a solemnre sounding tone and is as follows
God isgre at (fourtime s) , I testify that Muh ammad isth e apostle oi God (twice ) , Come to t h e prayer
(twice ) , Come to th e ble ssing (twice ) , God is gre at
(twice ) . There isnogod but God .
”In th e morning
:are added t h e words Prayer is be tter t han sle ep
(twice )?Public prayers are led by an imam, mullah , or
one of th e assemble d worshippers and all prayersconsist of a serie s of m kaats, or forms of prayer,whi ch are repe ated in a varie ty ofdevout posit ions.
Be fore saying prayers and taking food, t h e
faithful are require d by their scripture to wash
the ir face s .and h ands and the ir arms up to th e
e lbows ; also to rub the ir, he ads and fe e t, and to
put on cle an clothe s.
THE QORAN . 1 91
In case s of pollution t h e body must be washedall over ; also be fore Friday prayers, t h e gre at
festivals, and after washing t h e de ad. If water is
not forthcoming , fine sand may be used inste ad.
These appe ar to be th e only hygieni c rule s prescribe d by t h e Qoran it makes no mention of th e
sanitation ofdwe lling place s and the irsurroundings,nor doe s it re fer to medical tre atment or to
pre cautions ne ce ssary during e pidem ics.
A Muslim repe ats B i smi llah (In th e name
of God) be fore a me al , and on finishing says Glory
to God . Eat ing of blood and th e fle sh of swine is
prohibite d , also Whatever dies of itse lf, or is slain
i n honour of an idol , or is strangled, kille d by a
blow or fall , or by another be ast . Animals, other
than pigs, may be kille d by mankind for th e purpose
of food, but no game may be kille d during a
pilgrimage ; fish , howe ver, may be caught then for
supply . Animals or birds killed by others wh ich
have be en trai ned to do so, such as birds or hare s
caught by hawks, may be e aten .
No Spe cial me thod of taking th e life of an animal
se ems to be mentione d in th e Qoran, but a practice
called halal h as arisen . Th e literal meaning of this
word is ‘ lawful,’but it h as come to imply th e
me thod of slaying an an imal to be use d for food
by cutting its throat , and a strict Muslim only e ats
th e flesh of those slaughtere d in thismanner. Th e
i de a is that th e blood is removed by this proce ss.
When a Musalman isdying, a mullah , or a skilled
re ader of th e Qoran ,is sent for, and h e re ads th e
1 92 FA I THS ,FAIRS , AND FES TI VALS .
thirty-sixth chapter entitled Y.S . a portion of
which runs It shall be but one sound of the
trummt , and behold, they shall be all assemble d
be fore . us. On this day no soul shall be unjustly
tre ated in th e least ; ne ither shall ye be rewarde d
but according to what ye shall have wrought . On
thi s day th e inhabitants ofparadise shall be wholly
taken up with joy : they and the ir wive s shall re st
in shady groves, leaning on magnificent couches.
There they shall have fruit , and they shall obta in
whatever they sh all de sire . Pieace shall be t h e
word spoken unto th e righteous, by a merciful
Lord but h e shall say unto th e wicke d : B e ye
separated this day, 0 ye wicked, from th e righte ous.
D id I not command you, 0 sons of Adam, that ye
should not worship Satan , be cause h e was an open
enemy unto you ? And did I not say : worshipme , this is th e right way ?
Th e burial service is re ad by a mullah in a
mosque or masji d, or in some open Space , and it
conclude s by his saying, It is th e de cre e of God,
to which th e chie f mourner replies,“ I am ple ase d
with th e will of God , and then intimate s that t h epeople attending may depart .
Th e corpse is place d on its back in th e grave ,t h e he ad to the north and twisted to th e right
, so
that th e face is towards Me cca .
Th e following words end t h e ceremony We
commit the e to e arth in th e name of God, and inth e re ligion of th e Prophe t .
CHAPTER XVII .
MUSL IM FESTIVAL S AND FAsrs.
THE date s for fe stivals and fasts observe d by
Muslims are regulated by the ir calendar.
Th e Muslim era date sfrom th e 1 6th July,622 A .D .
,
i . e .,th e day after Muhammad
’
s flight (h i jm ) fromMe cca . The ye ars are pure ly lunar and there fore
ge t behind th e solar calendar, making a comple tecycle in about 32 ye ars. This circumstance h as
to be remembered in India , for it happens occa
sionally that certain Hindu and Muslim festivals
fall upon th e same day and‘
spe cial arrangementshave to be made to pre vent th e clashing ofre ligiousproce ssions of th e two different cre eds. Another
point to be remembered is that th e date of a fe stival
may be re tarded for a day or so, owing to th e new
moon be ing obscured by clouds.
Th e names of th e Muslim months and principalfestivals are given on th e next page .
1 95M US L IM FES TI VAL S .
are
25
demeani
ng
.
8
amnmfimm
.
m
922m
.
w
33m
a
9-
39
5.
.
0
va
cu
um
w
isa
fim
é
fi
mamAaanwm
.
m
Ea
bdsa
z
1 96 FA I THS , FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
The Muharram. Th e Muslim month of
mourning is called Muh arram,the first month of
the ir ye ar. New Ye ar’s Day wi th th e Musalmans
dawns as a day of grie f and lamentation, for it is
th e pre lude to th e gre atest tragedy in. Islam. Th e
fate ful tenth of th e month is th e anniversary of th e
martyrdom ofHusai n, th e son of Ali and grandsonoft h e Prophe t . On that day occurred th e massacreat Kerbala .
Ali was th e fourth Khalif of Islam on h is de atha. general
'
name d Moaviah installed himse lf in h is
place , and when h e died h is son Yaze ed was
appointed successor; Th e people appe ale d to ImamHusain at Me cca to fre e them from th e intolerableyoke of Yaze ed , and h e started with a party,consisting of h is family and a few devoted followers,for Kufa . On th e way h e encamped at , Kerbalane ar th e banks of th e Euphrate s, and there h e wassurrounded . After a conference , fighting beganand Husain with h is party were all slaughtered .
In Shiah homes, in apartments calle d Imambamor. Husain D alan, ceremoni e s are performe d in th isconne ction ; these are on a large scale at Hyderabad
,Bombay, Lucknow, D acca, Murshidabad.
Patna, Hooghly, and Calcutta , where t h e Shiahspredominate .
In Persia—th e centre and stronghold of Sh iaism—th e event is commemorated with great pompand solemnity in buildings called Takya .
Th e imambam is decorated profuse ly with flagsand shawls, profe ssional re citers discourse on th e
1 98 FAI THS , FAI RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
imitation funeral cortege . Th e Sunni s then bringout a number of tazz
'
as,which are imitation shrine s
made of paper, pith, and tinse l on a framework of
bamboo some are small and carried by one person ,
others are so large that th ey re quire a dozen or
more men to carry them .
Price Collier, in h is book Th e We st in th e
East ,” thus de scribe s thi s part of t h e ceremony as.
performed at Lucknow : Various fe ature s oft h e
tragic history of t h e de ath of Hassan and Husainare repre sented during t h e proce ssion and at t h e
interm ent and e very now and again t h e proce ssion
halted , whi le an excited orator re he arsed some
p ortion of th e story . They march ed, shout ing t h e
nam e s of th e martyrs, be ating the ir bre asts,
throwing dust on the ir he ads ; th ey are all bare
h e aded on this occasion , we eping and wailing. One
group carried what looked like short flails and to
th e end of th e cords were tie d knife -blades ; the se
they whirled around the ir he ads, bringing themdown on the ir shoulders and backs, whi ch werestre aming with blood .
To se e a group of these men stop and burst
into groans, te ars, and wild cries ofgrief to se e the irbre asts bruise d and in-some case s th e skin brokenby th e be ating of the ir fists to se e them covere d
with blood, dust , and swe at , the ir faces h aggard ,
the ir eye s blazing with excitement ; to he ar one
of them re cite part of t h e tale of woe, h is eye s.
stre aming with te ars and hi s voice choked withemotion ; and t he tale punctuated with wild crie s
M USL IM FES TI VAL S . 1 99
and shrieks and lusty pumme lling of th e breast onth e part of hi s he arers, while little chi ldren and old
women threw dust on the ir own and e ach other’
s
he ads, is th e most amazing spe ctacle of re ligious
enthusiasm that one may se e anywhere in the
world to-day .
”
Th e ch ie f difference in th e observance of the
Muharram is that t h e Shiahs ce lebrate it with
mourning and bring out B a ldals, where as th e
Sunnis do not .
During th is fatal month of Muharram the
K halif Osman was assassinate d in 656A .D . , Ali was
stabbed to de ath in a mosque at Kufa in 660 A .D .,
Hassan was poisoned during h is re tirement in a
h ermitage ne ar Medina , and last of all Husain was
Spe ared to de ath in t h e . conflict a t Kerbala by a man
named Shamir, a name wh ich is de tested by Shiahs
t o th is day .
Akhiri Chahar Shambah (L ast fourth day
after Sabbath) . Th e last Wednesday of S i phfir
is observe d in some places as a festival in comme
moration of t h e mitigation of Muhammad’
s last
illness and h is last bath.
Bara Wafat me ans the Gre at Death of th e
P mphe t it is obse rve d as a solemn festival on the
1 2th of Rabi-ul—awa'
l , wh ich was also the day of
h is birth .
Shab-i -Bal'
at, or Night ofRe cord ,’
is t h e ni ght
of th e 1 4th of Shaban when God is said to register
all actions of mankind and all births and deaths
for th e coming ye ar it was originally set apart for
20 0 FAI THS , FA IRS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
fast ing, but h as be come a fe stival and a gre at day
for fireworks ; in th e north of India lamps are
lighted at grave s and shrines and prayers are said
on behalfofde ce ase d ancestors.
Ramazan. Th e fast of Ramazan is strict ly
observed by all Muslims. During its th irty days,between dawn and sunse t , th ey e at noth ing,
drink noth ing, and smoke nothing. Owing to th e
months not following th e se asons it happens that
this month falls in th e hot we ather during manyyears in succe ssion, and th e privation then endured
may be imagined when it is remembered that t h etemperature in th e shade during the dav-time in
India is frequently above 1 0 0 ° Fahrenhe it .
Th e fast must be e spe cially trying to Muslimservants, who have to cook and serve th e meals ofthe ir European employers.
Those who are sick or on a journey are e spe
cially e xcused from fasting and must afterwards
make up th e days so lost ; but pre gnant women ,
and those who are nursing or in the ir courses, andyoung ch ildren, are entire ly e xempt .
ld-ul-Fi tr, or fe ast ofb re aking the fast , begins
on th e first day of Shawnl and continues for twodays. Th e new moon, howe ver, must be se en on
the last evening of Ramazan , and , if it is not th e
fast has to be prolonge d until a View is obt ai ned .
It is naturally . looked forward to and celebrated
with great re joicing by th e“
Muslims, who then
make amends, as it were , for th e mort ificat ion of
the pre ceding thirty days. On th e morning of
2 0 2 FAI THS , FA I RS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
Me cca , and ,in order to allow time for th e journey
to and fro, th e pre ceding and followingmonths were
also kept fre e . During this period it was unlawfulto wage war ; th e pe 0p1e laid aside the ir arms,
blood feuds were stayed,and no matter h ow bitter
th e hatred , enem ies observed a holy truce . Th e
month ofRajabwas kept sacred in t h e same manner
and was observe d as a fast . When Muhammad com
mence d h is pre achings it was de em ed desirable to
continue t h e practice of t h e pilgrimage and to kee p ,
holy th e thre e months of Dhul-qada , Dhul -hija ,
and Muharram , but in lieu of Rajab t h e monthRamazan or Ramadan,
wh ich h ad formerly be ena time for e xce ssive drinking, was se le cte d for
fasting and be cause , as t he sacre d book itse lf
re cords, it was t h e month in which th e Qoran was
sent down from h e aven .
Th e Hajj, orHadj, is th e pilgrimage to th e temple
at Me cca which e very Muslim , who h as h e alth and
sufficient me ans, Should perform at le ast once in h islife time . Pilgrims have to be pre sent at Me ccaat t h e beginning of the month Dhul-hija ; those
from Indi a proce ed by se a to Je dda and at that
place don the ir sacred clothe s (i hmm) which only
consist of two small woollen cloth e s and a
pair of sandals wh ich expose t h e he e l and instep ;bare -he aded and thus clad
_
they walk to th e holycity and during t h e pilgrimage must be most
particular in th e ir language and manners.
Th e temple at Me cca consists of several enclo
sure s in th e centre ofwhich stands t h e K aaba ,
THE HA I ] . 20 3 .
th e holy of holies ; round this edifice th e pilgrims
must proce ed in a spe cial manner seven t imes, .
commencing at th e corner where the black stone ,
previously mentioned , is fixed ; on e ach occasionas th e stone is passe d they e ither kiss it or touchit with the ir hand and kiss that . During th e first
nine days ofDhul-h i j a there is a series of ceremonies .
to perform , including visits to certain Sacred spots
in t h e enclosure and other holy p laces in th e imme
diate ne ighbourhood of Me cca .
Muslims be lieve that t h e we ll Zam Zam , close
by t h e Kaaba ,is th e identical Spring wh ich
gave water for Ismae l when wandering wi th h is
mother Hagar in th e de sert , and some think that
sh e calle d out mm mm or‘
stop st 0 p ,
’
on finding
it . Th e water is regarded as exceptionally holy
it is drunk with spe cial de votion by th e pilgrims
wh o fill bottle s and carry it away .
Th e Black Stone is an obje ct of great re verence
it is se t in silver and re sts in t h e south- e ast em
corner of th e Kaaba . It is considered to have be en
sent down to t h e e arth from he aven with Adam .
and place d in th e Kaaba by Abraham when h e was
constructing this edifice . In th e enclosure there .
is anoth er sacred stone on which Abraham is sai d
to have stood when h e was giving dire ctions for
th e bu ilding .
All t h e ceremonies now performed during th e
pilgrimage were observed by th e Arab idolaters .
prior to t h e t ime ofMuhammad , and th e only differ
ence is that th e idols do not remain .
«
2 04 FAI THS ,FA IRS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
Friday is th e day of th e we e k e stablish ed for
spe cial worship by Muslims ; it was probably so
set apart be cause th e pe 0p1e h ad be en accustome d
to assemble then to discuss tribal and othermatters.
No spe cial re ason is given in th e Qoran for its
se le ction, but advice is given to le ave merchan
dizing and sport on that day . Tradition says that
i t was sanctified be cause th e Prophe t made h is
first entry into Medina and God finished cre ationon Friday .
All festivals are observed by alms-giving and
e xtra prayer at th e masji'
ds or at th e id-
guh .
.zo6 FA I THS ,FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
They accuse t he Shiahs of having corrupted
th e Qoran and of not following its pre cepts.
Th e Shiahs (a name derive d from S hi kat
me aning or Adliyak (rightful socie ty)as th ey call themselves, re je ct th e Sunnah
as hav ing be en compiled under th e dire ction of
th e thre e Khalifs above mentioned, whom they
regard as usurpers. They claim for t h e de scendan ts
ofMuhammad hereditary right to th e Khalifate and
hold th at only Ali and h is line should have followe d
th e Prophe t as leader, or I mam of t h e faithful .Ali was not only th e Prophe t
’
s cousin but th e
husband of Fatima , th e only surviving daughter
of Muhammad by Khadija .
Th e Sh iahs Show gre at hatred for t h e thre ee arlier Khalifs and maltre at the ir effigie s on th e
occasion of a fe stival called Ghadir, so named
from t h e place in Arabia where Muhammad is said
to have de clare d Ali as hi s rightful succe ssor.
Ali is venerated by them e qually with
Muhammad , and they add to th e cre ed and Ali
is th e Wali (agent or confidant) of God .
They furth er be lie ve in what is called Nur- iMuhammad, the light . of Muhammad ,
’ which is
suppose d to have passe d to Ali and then to th e
twelve Imams (Imambara) . Th e last of these ,
wh o disappe ared in 873 A.D . , is be lie ve d to be
hidden and is expe cted to appear again as Mehdi
(h is surname ) . Several Musalmans have inde ed
alre ady given themse lve s out as this personage !
and some have se cured a number of followers.
M US L IM S ECTS . 2 0 7
Th e Imams are regarded by the Shiahs withi ntense re spe ct and several se cts ' be lieve thatAli was an incarnation . Th e title I mam me ans‘
le ader,’
but it is given by Shiahsonly to th e twe lveimme diate de scendants of th e Prophe t . Th e Sunni s
give t h e title to t h e four le arned doctors Sh afi,
Hani fa , Malik ,and Hanbal, t h e founders of th e ir
fai th, and they hold that there must be a visible
Imam , or Fath er of th e Church . Th e Pesh I mam
is t h e le ader of devotions in a Sunni mosque .
These difference s have re sulte d in a separation
be twe en th e two partie s as gre at as that which
e xiste d in former days be twe en th e churche s of
Chri stendom ; th e members of e ach regard t h e
others as here tics, and disputes be twe en th e two
factions have be en of frequent occurrence .
Outside India t he Sunni s are chiefly found in
Arabia ,Egypt
, Syria, and“ Turkey, and t h e strong
hold oi t h e Sh iahs is Persia .
Th e Wahabis, of whom a considerable number
e xist in India ,are followers of th e doctrine s of
Muhammad, son ofWahab , who,in th e sevente enth
century, started a purifying movement against
t he traditions which h ad arisen regarding Islam
..and attempte d to abolish th e invocation of saints
and Spirits of the de ad . He taught that shrine s,
tazi as, minare ts, and such like structure s are an
abomination ; th at pirs (re ligious instructors) ,
walis, and sai nts have no Spiritual powers or
authority ; and that tomb-worship isnot only use le ss
but repugnant . Th e Wahabis be lieve in th e
2 08 FAI THS ,FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
absolute unity of God and de clare that others
h ave perverte d th is faith. At one time they
be came powerful in Arabia and , obtaining posses
sion of Me cca and Medina ,de stroyed some of
t h e re lics which were venerate d there .
Th e Sufis (so named from Sui , i .a. ,wool as th e
membersofthis se ct wore woollen garments), profe ssto follow t h e te achings ofth e Qoran the ir doctrinesare inde ed a form ofmysticism which may be likene d
to th e Hindu .Vedanta philosophy, although sai d
by them to be'
based on th e Qoran .
They are fatalists, and be lie ve that human
be ings will pass through th e four stage s Shari at
(according to rule ) , Tariqat (following th e right
path) , Haqiqat (re al ization ofth e truth) , and Ma'
Vifat
(knowledge of t h e D ivinity) , and that they willfinally obtain union with God re ligions h ave no
significance and there is no]
re al difference be twe enright and wrong ; God rule s everyt hing and man
is irre sponsible for h is actions.
They are mostly to be found in Persia and are
not numerous in India . Th e asce tic of th e Sufis isknown as a darvesh in Turkey, Egypt , Arabia,and Persia , and in India h e is classed among
fakirs.
Th e Babis are a se ct started in'
Persia during
th e e arly part of.
th e nine te enth century by a youngenthusiast named Ali , of Shiraz . He calle d himse lf
t h e Bab, or Door,’ “through which God can alone
be approached ; h e re cognized Mose s, Je sus, an d
Muhammad as t h e principal other Babs, de claring
ZI O FAI THS ,FA I RS , AND FE S TI VAL S .
Saints and Superstitions.
In addition to ange ls and de vils th e Qoran
te ach es Muslims to be lieve in th e existence of
geni i or fins these are some thing more than
Spirits, for they propagate the ir Spe cies, e at , drink,and die like human be ings ; some are good and
others e vil some are invisible and others are
be ings such as peri (fairie s) and div (giants) . They
apparently have minds capable of re ce ivingimpressions, for Muhammad was sent for the ir
conversion as we ll as for that of man.
At many place s in t h e Punjab are tombs saidto contain t h e remains of nau-
gajas (nine -yarders) ,or giants, who came from Arabia in days gone
On a large mound at Harappa in th e Montgomery
district th ere is one of these tombs wh ich is about
twenty-seven fe e t in length . Th e legend regardingit is th at a giant ofthat h e ight , nam ed Nur Shah,
”
came into th e district layingwast e th e countryside
t he pe 0 p1e of Harappa , however, met h im with
bows and arrows and attacked h im so severe ly that
h e fell on th e mound mortally wounded ; h e wasburie d wh ere h e fell , for . th e corpse was too largeand h e avy to remove . In proof of this story th ere sidents point to the grave and also to certainlarge and pe culiar stone s at th e foot of th e mound .
One of the se is a black stone , about th e size and
shape of a millstone without a hole , wh ich we ighs
over a hundredwe ight and is said to h ave forme d
t h e S igne t of h is ring . Two others are of a curiousye llow colour and of remarkable shape ,
be ing
SAINTS OF I S LAM . ZI I
some thing like large knuckle bones, only more
c ircular, and having a hole through th e middle ;the se are almost as heavy as th e S igne t stone and
are state d to have be en the giant’
s armle ts, which
fell off, toge ther with th e Signe t , when h e stumbled .
NO stone of t h e kind is found in th e Punjab, and
how and wh y they got to Harappa is a mystery .
People care fully avoid such gravesat night , fort h eSpirits of t h e giants are be lieved to hover aroundand , be ing malignant , are like ly to do them harm .
A small storeroom was once bui lt ne ar one of
these tombs for th e kitchen of a school boarding
house during its construction one of th e workmen
broke h is leg, and another was taken i ll and die d ;there after t h e room remaine d vacant , for no one
would use it .
Gre at respe ct is shown by Muslims to saints,
more e spe cially when they are de ad . Large and
e laborate tombs are ere cted over th e rema ins of
t h e more ce le brated one s, numbers of whom are
be lieve d to have performe d miracles.
Th e saint is some times a fakir, or Muslim
asce tic, wh o perhaps se ts up as a hermit ‘
orwanders
about colle cting alms and food . Many of the se
mendicants are be lieved to posse ss th e power of
curing sickne ss, causing pre gnan cy in barren
women ,and perform ing miracle s ; most of them
provide charms against dise ase and ill-luck. It
i s a common occurrence in some parts of India for a
fakir to set up a hermitage by t h e grave ofa de ce ase d
confrere , to pronounce h im to have be en a holy
2 1 2 FAI THS , FA I RS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
saint , and to colle ct a numberofmurids or clie nts
some t ime s th e se assemblie s a ssume large propor
tions, and after a time several thousand persons
will attend at th e annual gatherings, when e ach
make s a cash or'oth er offering to th e custodian of
th e grave . As time goes on a portion of th e income
is spent on th e construction of a masonry e difice
or shrine ,and a regular Fair is instituted .
A Pir, or
'
re ligious chi e f man, is generally a
de scendant of some sa int or holy person , and h e is
th e sajada-nashin (occupi er of th e post) of th e
khangah or makbarm (shrine-
or tomb) one
without he irs will appoint a succe ssor. He sends
out se rvants (Pir ke K halifa) to colle ct offerings in
th e sh ape of animals, .cash, and other things from
h is muri ds (followers) wh o also pre sent gifts whenvisit ing th e shrine . We althy persons some timesgive land as the ir donations and a Musalman ruler
will make a grant of,
land‘
or revenue in h is favour
and t h e British Government h as continued th e
usage in spe cial instance s, provided .th e buildingsare maintained in proper order and th e custodiancontinue s to be of good characte r.
Some of th e shrine s are very ce lebrated , and
many of th e Pirs have an enormous number of
muri ds.
In th e Punjab may be mentioned th e makbarraof Dat a
‘
Ganj Baksh Sahib at Lahore , t h e khangahof Baba Farid at Pakpattan, of Bah awal
‘
Haq at
Multan , and of Sakhi Sarwar in th e Dera Ghazi
Khan district .
2 1 4 FA I THS, FA I RS ,AND FES TI VA L S .
Gany’
, or Sugar-Store ,
’ be cause anyth ing which
h e put into h is mouth is sa id to have turned into
sugar. There is also a shrine to h im in Ajudh an
wh ere h e died in 690 H . This date is derive d by
Muslims from th e word makhdom (m=4o, kh =6oo,d=4, o=6, m=4o) . Be fore dying h e gave out
that whoever Should pass through h is shrine at
Pakpattan on th e anniversary of h is deat h would
be assured a place in paradise . During th e night
of th e festival he ld annually in h is honour be twe en
and pilgrims rush with enthusiasm
to th e small building which is said to contain h is
remains. Th e entrance door of the shrine is of
silverand is known as th e B i h/ish t Darwaza or Gate
of Paradise .
’
Th e pilgrims consist of both Muslims
and Hindus and formerly women were admitte d .
It is remarkable th at Hindus should so often
uni te with Musalmans in h onouring th e Spirits of
Muslim saints, but th e fact shows how intense ly
th e Hindu re spe cts th e souls of th e departed . At
Karnal in th e Eastern Punjab there is a strangepractice . Tradition says that a Brahman girl was
abducted by a certain Raja ; ,a saint name d
Asthan Sayad Mahmud led a large force of Musal
manslagainst th e tyrant and th e maiden was
re covere d, but not be fore some five hundre d of th e
rescuing warriors h ad lost the ir lives. They werehonoured as Shah ids (martyrs) by th e ere ction of
small tombs at th e Spots where they succumbed ,and every Thursday evening fakirs and otherslight little lamps at these shrines, perform certain
SHRINES OF I SLAM . 2 1 5
ceremonies, and re ce ive offerings, not from membersOf the il' own re ligion but from Hindus, who thusgrace fully acknowledge th e service rendered by th emartyrs. Th e numberofshrines, however, isnowfarin e xcess of th e five hundre d, for every remarkableobj e ct h as be en turned into one thus an enormous
old stone which once did duty as a roller is utilized,and a kosminar, ormilestone ,
forms another.
At t h e'
same place may be se en th e picture squetomb of Boali Kalandar, another ce lebrated saint ,who is said to have resided for some time at Budha
Khera , a few mile s distant , and finally to havese ttle d at Panipat . When at th e former village
he was visite d by a famous fakir, who took abouta ferocious tiger as a pe t . They had a dispute as
to which was th e bigger man , and th is was finally
de cided in th e Kalandar’
s favour, be cause h e
produce d a cow which swallowe d th e tiger. At
Panipat h e praye d so constan tly tha t it be came
laborious to get water for h is ablutions e ach time
so h e stood in th e Jumna which then flowed by th e
town . Aft er '
standing there seven ye ars t h e fish
had gnawe d h is legs and h e was so stiff h e could
hardly move so h e reque sted th e river to step back
seven paces. She , in h er hurry to obli ge th e saint ,
went back se ven kos and there sh e is to th is
day . He gave th e Panipat pe 0 p1e a charm wh ich
di spe lled all th e flies from th e city ; but they
grumbled and sai d they rather liked flies ; so he
brought them back thousandfold . Th e people
have Since repented .
2 16 FAI THS,FA IR S ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
Th e Kalandar died at Budha Kh era and there
was a good de al of trouble about burying h im . He
was entombed first at Kam a] ; but th e Panipat pe ople
claimed hi s body and opene d th e grave , upon which
h e sat up and looke d at them until they fe lt
ashamed . Then th ey took away some bricks from
t h e grave for th e foundation ofa shrine but when
they Opened th e box at Panipat , th ey found h is
body in it . So now h e h as a tomb at Panipat as
we ll as at Karnal , and not to be outdone t h e pe 0 p1e
at Budha Khera ere cted a third shrine over th e wallon wh ich h e use d to ride . He die d in 724 Hijra .
It is not an unhe ard-oi matter for Muslims in a
Hindu v illage to worship th e Hindu local god ,and
a Musalman moth er, who h as lost h er first -born,
will some time s re lapse into idolatry and makeofferings to propitiate th e godde ss S itala on t h e
chance ofpreserving h er only son from sm allpox .
At Kallar Kahar in t h e Salt Range is a Shallow
lake , th e water ofwhich is salt , probably owing tot h e passage of springs through a se am of salt . Th e
pe0 p1e of th e locality, howe ver, e xplain that it use dto be fresh until some five hundred ye ars ago
Baba Farid ofPakpattan came that way , unknownto th e Villagers, and asked for a drink of water ;for a . joke one of th e women , who were drawingwater, said, How can you drink water when it issalt ? After quench ing h is th irst th e holy man
said, Yes, it is verily salt , and wh en th e womennext went to fetch water they found it h ad becomesalt , and so it h as remained.
2 18 FA I THS , FA I RS ,AND FE S TI VAL S .
incomple te or by weaving in a few thre ads of a
different colour at some point .
Musalman yoke ls mostly we ar talismans (tawiz) ,which usually take th e form of a small silver orna
ment or locke t worn suspended from th e ne ck ortiedto th e upper part of th e arm ; inside these are folded
pie ce s of paperbearing extracts from t h e Qoran .
Texts from t h e holy book are also inscribed upon
pie cesofwood and hungon stringacrosst h e entrance
of house s or cat tle -pens during epidemics among
man or be ast ; th ese charms are also suspende d
from th e ne cks of valuable animals to pre serve
them from misfortune .
CHAPTER XIX.
MAZDEI SM OR ZOROASTRIANI SM .
MAZDEI SM is th e re ligion of th e Parse es and is
so calle d from th e name of its supreme de ity, butit is more popularly known perhaps as Zoroas
trianism ,
”from th e Gre e k rendering of its repute d
founder Zertush t .
Among t h e Aryans wh o remained in Persia ,
re ligion de ve loped on different line s to what it did
with the ir conne ct ions in India ; the ir be lie f in a
supreme god , whom they called Ahura Mazda , th e
god of he aven,
’
and in M i thra , th e‘
god ofh e avenly
light ,’
was re taine d ; they continue d to worshipth e e lements Fire , Water, and th e Earth , and also
respe cted a numberofstorm-myths they venerated
th e cow and worshipped Homa (th e liquorotherwise
known as Soma) . They acquired a new conception
of t h e world and be lie ve d that its e xistence was
limite d to twe lve thousand ye ars in four periods
they le arne d t o consider that life consists o good
thought (Ahura Mazda) and evil thought
(Ahriman) they h ad faith in th e re surre ction of
th e de ad, and th ey dispose d of corpses by e xposing
th em to dogs and birdsofprey, inste ad ofby burning
orburying .
In th e e leventh or fourte enth century be fore
Christ , while th e Aryans were still dwe lling in
2 2 0 FA I THS , FA IRS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
Bactria , one of the ir priests, named Zertush t
(Zoroaster) , re form ed the ir re ligion on th e line s
d e scribed above ; and he composed songs, which
formed th e basis of th e ancient Persian scripture s
known”
as th e Zend-A'
vesta . Unfortunate ly onlya few of t h e books now remain , owing originally
to th e ravage s of th e force s under Alexander th e
Gre at , and later to action by th e Muslims.
Th e prie sts of this ancient re ligion were th e
Magi , or Wise men of t h e East ,’
so often
re ferred to in th e Bible , and th ey were renownedas astrologe rs, magicians, and interpre ters of
dre ams.
In th e beginning of th e e igh th century A .D . a
number of th e Zoroastrians (or Parse e s, as the y
are now termed , from Pars or Fars, t h e name
of Persia) le ft Persia owing to perse cution and
se ttled at Sanjan , about sixty m ile s north of
Bombay ; they brought with them the ir scripturesand th e sacred fire , re - e stablishe d the ir re ligion inIndia , and afterwards Spre ad all over t h e country ,
maintaining Bombay as the ir he adquarters.
Wh at remains of t h e Zend-Ave sta may be
divided into two portions, t h e Avesta and t h e
«Khorda (little ) Avesta . Th e former contains th e
Vandidad, a code of re ligious tale s and legends ;th e Vi spamd, a colle ction of sacrificial rule s ; th eYasna , a composition of litanie s and old hymns.
Th e other portion consists of a number of short
prayers, which are re cited both by prie sts and
laymen at Spe cial t ime s th ey are — the five Gah ,
2 22 FAI THS ,FAIRS ,
AND FESTI VAL S .
Th e modern Parse es, however, maintain that ,a ccording to th e original te aching of Zoroaster,prayer to Spirits other th an th e Supreme God is
not corre ct , and the ir cre ed may be summarize d
follows
To know God“
as th e one Supreme Be ing .
To re cognize Zoroasterash is inspired proph e tTo be lie ve th e re ligion of th e Ave sta , as
brought by h im from God , as entire ly
true .
To perform good de eds and trust in th e
goodness of God .
To be moral in thought , word, and de e d .
To Shun evil and wickedne ss.
To pray five time s a day .
To be lieve in divine judgment on th e fourthday after de ath .
’
To hope for he aven and fear he ll.
To be li eve in a general re surre ction .
To turn towards some luminous obje ct while
worshipping God .
Ahura Mazda (Ormuzd) is th e cre ator of
all things h e h as done what h e willed
and shall do what h e wills ; h e alonecan save .
Th e prie sts consist of th e Dasturs or high priests,t he Mobeds or middle order, and th e Herbads or
lower order ; they are hereditary but the ir sons
may become laymen. D asturs are th e authoritie s
on all re ligious matters, and they impose penalties
and de cide questions re lating to doctrine . There
PARS EE FIRE AL TARS . 2 23
was,for some time , a council or panchayat,
consist ing ofsix Dasturs and twe lve Mobeds, whichse ttle d t h e affairs of th e community generally, but
the ir powers were re stricte d in re lation to marriageand divorce by Act XV of 1865, and in re spe ct to
questions of succession by Act XXI of th e same
ye ar ; th e functions of th e council or committe enow consist chiefly in its be ing truste e to certa incharitable funds.
Th e prie sts ofli ciat e at th e fire - temple s of which
there are two classes, name ly ,th e seven Atash
B ahrams and a large number of Atash-Adamus.
They maintain a continual watch over th e sacred
fire , so that it ne ver goe s out , and they fe ed it with
sandal -wood and gum benzoin . It is kept in a
large urn on a stone altar, which is situate in a
shrine within an outer court of th e temple wh ere
i ts light can be se en by t h e worshippers. Th e
prie st sits crosse d- legged within th e shrine facingt h e fire and holding th e bayesma , or th e sacrificial
be som made of silver rods, in h is le ft
h and .
D e vot ions at th e fire - altars are performed by th e
laity of both se xes, but they are Optional and may
be carrie d out at any time by th e worsh ippers, wh o
usually contribute some thing to th e prie sts. Th e
pious Parse e , however, will say prayersmany time s
a day—ou rising in th e morning , after ablutions and
me als, and be fore re tiring to re st .
Th e Parse e infant must be born upon th e
ground-floor, and its mother should not be seen by
224 FA I THS ,FA IRS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
the family for forty days. On th e seventh day an
astrologer-priest is called in, and h e announce s a
numberof auspicious names from wh ich the parents
make a. se le ction.
At th e age of six ye ars and thre e months th e
ch ild is re ce ived into th e Zoroastrian re ligion by a
rite of initiation ,which consists of washing with
m'
rang and investiture with the kusti , or sacre d
cord , and with th e swim , or sacred shirt .
Th e kusti is a th in woollen cord of 72 thre ads
(to represent th e 72 has, or chapters, ofth e Yasna)it h as two small ‘ tails at e ach end to denote th e four
seasons and three knots on e ach tail for th e twe lve
months of th e ye ar. Th e sudm is made of cotton
cloth , gauze , orne t . Both boys and girlsare invested
with th ese articles, and be fore init iation th ey we ara jubhla or silk frock . A priest ties a cord round
th e waist of th e child , upon whom h e pronounces.
a blessing and then throws slice d frui t , se eds,perfumes, and Spice s over its h e ad . If a ch ild die sbe fore initiation it is considere d as re turned to
Ahura Mazda, pure as upon entry into the worldfor ch ildren are not re garde d as accountable forthe ir act ions until within th e ir se venth ye ar. Itis th e kusti to which Moore allude s in h is LallaRook when h e make s Hafiz thus de clare himse lf
a fire -Wbrsh ipperHold hold thy words are de ath ,
Th e stranger crie d , as wide h e flung
His mantle back , and show’d beneathTh e Gebi be lt that round h im hung ;
226 FAI THS , FAIRS , AND FESTI VAL S .
whom they escort and hand‘
jover to th e bridegroom .
Eight days later a wedding feast of vege tables and
wiri e i s provided by th e newly_
married pair and
toasts are then propose d .
'
When a Parse e isdying, a priest attendsand re ads
portions ofth e Avesta , consisting of consoling t e t
and prayersfor forgivene ss h e also administers th e
sacred cup ofHoma . Dire ctly de ath occursth e body
is taken to th e ground-floor where it is laid on th e
floor, washed, dressed in white , perfumed , and
place d on an‘ iron tre stle . Th e rite of sag-did (dog
gaze ) is performed be fore th e removal ofth e corp se
thisconsistsofbringing a dog to look at th e body ;some say that this practice isfor ascertaining th estate ofth e departed soul by th e action ofth e animal ;others th at its View will e xpe dite th e translationofth e soul to he aven. Th e priest offers prayers forth e repose
'
of th e soul , and male friends call , m akeobe isance at th e doorand e xpre ss the ir re gre ts.
A corpse is re garde d as unclean, so e veryt h ingwhich it touchesmust be de stroye d or purifie d, andt h e bier is carried by four pall-bearers, wh o in
Bombay be long to a class of Parse es called Nessus
(uncle an) salar. Th e funeral procession is he ade dby prie sts and proce e ds t o th e Dokhma (Tower of
S ilence ) where , afterprayer, th e body is e -xpOsed on
an iron grat ing to be de voure d by vulture s and birdsof prey th e bone s are afterwards allowe d to
crumble away . Parse e s do not inter or burn th e irde ad , for it is considered that th e e arth and fire
would be contaminated th ereby .
PARSEE CALENDAR. 27
On t h e third day afterde ath friendsand re lationscolle ct at th e re sidence of th e de ce ased and proce ed
thence to a fire -temple (sagri ) Where prayers are
offered and a list of ch arit ie s is handed over toth e prie st . Payments are also made for month ly
prayers for t h e soul ofth e de ce ase d during a periodof one ye ar
'
and there after on e ach anniversary of
the de ath .
In Bombay th e Towers of S ilence are situatein a be autiful garden on Malabar Hill .Chapters XI , XII , XV, and XVIII ofL eviticus
describe very ne arly some of t h e customs of th e
Parse e s, if we omit those portions re lating to
sacrifices, circumcision, uncle annessuntil even thre escore and ten days for purification after birth of
a. daughter.
The ir sacred books do not degrade women , and
although formerly there was a certain amount of
parti al!, Parse e ladie s of to-day are fre e tomove insocie ty and , what is more , se t a very good example
by th e ir mode sty and chastity.
Th e Parse es generally are an exceptionally
cle anly'
and benevolent race , and a Parse e beggar is
unknown.
Calendar. There are twe lve months of thirty
days each in th e Parse e ye ar and five days, orGatha,are added
.to make up th e deficiency.
Th e names ofth e months are
I . Farvardin . 4. Tir.
2 . Ardibeh isht . 5. Amardad.
3. Khurdad. 6. S h arivar.
228 FA I THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VALS .
7. .Meher. I O. Deh .
8. Aban . I I . Bahman.
9. Adar. rz. Asfandar.
Th e days'
oi th e month are named after ce lestial andother be ings, but th e fact that th e I st Ormazd, th e
8th Dep-Adar, th e 1sth D ep
-Meh er, and the 23rd
Dep-D in are sacre d to Ormazd, affords evidence of
a Sunday and of an older. div ision into we eks.
About th e beginning of th e e ighte enth centuryit was discovered that th e date of th e calendar then
use d in India differed from th at in use by the ir
bre thren in Persia, and th e discussion, which there
upon arose as to which was corre ct , led to th e
formation of two se cts among th e Parse e s. Those
who adopted th e newly imported date.of Persia .
call themse lves t h e Kadimi (ancient) , orClmrigarian,
and begin the ir ye ar a month e arlier ; those who.
continued th e Indian date are known as th e
Rasawi (customary) , or S hahanshah i (of th e K ingof Kings) , and are t h e more numerous. In respe ct
to all othermatters th e two parties are in agre ement .
A special fe ature of th e Parse e calendar is theirnportance place d upon spe cial days for particularacts thus th e first day of a month is auspiciousfor entering a new house and others are best
.for
se tting but upon a journey or for starting a. new
business and so on.
The ir day is divided into watches (gah) , fourin winter and five in summer ; .e ach gah has a
heavenly watcher and itszown spe cial prayers.
230 FAI THS ,FA IRS ,
AND FES TI VAL S ,
Amardad-sal, he ld on th e following day , is in
honour ofAmardad , th e angel of immortality.
Ava Ardu SW j asan is th e . festival of Ava , th e
ange l pre siding over'
t h e se a . Parse es go to th e
seashore or a river-bank, chant prayers, and offer
flowers, sugar, and cocoanuts—customs wh ich theyhave borrowed from th e Hindus. In Bombay a
fair is held on“
th e Esplanade on this day .
In m idwinter (M ediaS pamor) there is a feast
last ing for six days in comr'
nemorat ion of the six
days ofCreation , and in th e . Spring occurs a festival
inh onour of agriculture ;
Mithra, th e ange l dire cting th e . course of th e
sun, is honoured on t h e 1 6th day ofMeher, Whenthere is also a
‘ festival to!
ce lebrate . truth and
friendsh ip .
On th e roth day of'
Aban,
‘
Farvardin , th e guardianange l of souls of th e departed , is respe cted , and thisday IS spe cially devote d to ceremonies of th e dead
pe 0p1e attend at th e TowersofS ilence where prayersare offered .
Th e last t en days of t he ye ar should be Spentin, deeds of charity and thanksgiving to AhuraMazda .
Th ese are th e principal festivals ofth e se remarkable
'
pe 0p1e , and nowadays they are regarded'
much
in th e same manner!
as are S ai nts! Days by
Christians.
CHAPTER XX .
THE MANAGEMENT or FAIRS .
PUBL ISHED official reports on t h e conduct of fairs at
th e gre at religious centres of India in th e early partof th e nine te enth century re veal a shocking stateof affai rs.
Th e wre tched pilgrims—men, women; and
children—wended the irway in thousands along the
main roads towards t h e sacred place s, crowdingth e villages and halting places, cre ating an artificial
famine like a swarm of locusts, drinking infe cted
water and e ating impure food , and offering themse lves as a prey to bands ofmarauders.
'Arrived
at th e ir destination the se we ary enthusiasts wouldbe crammed into t h e most filthy hove ls by way
of lodging-houses—loften for we eks toge th er—in
th e rai ny season bene ath le aky roofs and on miry
floors t h e Space allotte d per he ad be ing just as
much as they could cover lying down and some times
e ven less. Here , with insufficient food—and bad
at that— attacke d by vermin and dise ase , thousands
re ce ive d re lie f in de ath . Of those who escape d
from these pest-house s with the ir foul surroundings,
many found themse lve s without money and had
to beg the ir way home , but more often died of
exhaustion and want of food others fe ll sick and
succumbed in agony, unattended and uncared
232 FA I THS ,FA IRS ,
AND FES TI VAL S .
for ; ye t others carried disease with them to the ir
homes, where , maybe , thousands died in couse
quence ; th e re turn of th e pi lgrim stre ams was,
inde ed , th e signal for th e spre ad of e pidemics
throughout th e country .
Steps have long S ince be en taken by t h e British
Government to mitigate these horrors, and with a
gre at me asure ofsuccess. It is, however, exce edingly
difficult to prote ct th e enormous masse s of pilgrims
in India from disease , to he lp them against themse lves it is by no me ans only th e want ofe ducationwhich causes this le thargy, for even those who are
e ducated se em willing to undergo risk of infe ctionon sacred occasions by crowding into place s whichrapidly be come insanitary and by drinking and
bathing in th e polluted water of holy tanks and
stre ams.
It may prove of interest to mention brieflycertain me asure s which are use ful in de aling with
a large re ligious meld .
In th e first place a se t of standing orders should
be care fully prepared in e ight parts under th e
following he ads
(I ) General Instructions, (2) FairEstablishment ,
(3) Colle ction ofFe e s, (4) Inquiry Office s and Block
Officers, (5) Me dical Arrangements, (6) Drinking
Water-supply, (7) Conservancy , (8) Police Arrange
ments.
A copy of th e standing order re lating to h is
particular department should be supplied to every
responsible official employed at th e fai r, and a se t of
234 FA I THS , FA IRS , AND FES TI VAL S .
Sealing-wax, cloth, candles, and matche s for
sealing padlocks at th e Fa ir ofli ce .
Pens, ink, and paper for th e various ofii ces.
Coarse grass for th e thatche s of th e hospital
huts and forplacingon th e steps ofghats to pre vent
Slipping.
60 0 dols, for drawing water at t h e we lls and
30 0 iron pails with rope s.
1 50 hurricane lanterns.
1 0 0 lamps on posts.
30 K itson lights (on hire ) .
1 2 0 sh uldaris for toll-posts and camp ofii ce s. , e tc .
25 cases of kerosine oil.
Flags. 76 wh ite with red circle , on pole s, for
drinking we lls.
1 0 white with red hand , on poles, for
inquiry office s.
30 large red , on poles, for latrines.
1 20 small red ; on bamboos, for latrines.
50 small white , for re fuse trenche s.
1 1 0 sacks containing 1 65 maunds of quicklime
for disinfe cting we lls and other place s.
ghaw s for offices and camps.
60 0 scre ens of chatm’
or sirki for use at latrines,e ach 18ft . x 4ft . with thre e bamboo supports.
50 0 baske ts and brooms for‘
swe epers.
Ropes, bamboos, and iron pegs for th e ghats.
Wooden frame s with whe e ls for drawing water
at th e we lls.
50 0 small brass bowls for use at drinkingwe lls.
50 0 e arth enware pots formarking camps, e tc .
MANAGEMENT oFFA IRS . 235
Tent -pegs, firewood, and grass, e tc for officers’
camp .
Charpoys, cooking-utensils, and t en doolis for
th e h OSp i talS .
Engine ering tools, such as hoes, spades
,pick
axe s, e tc.
Many yards of muslin for compulsory . sale to
th e ke epers of food-shops.
Boats and rafts, posts and rope s, water-cisternsand railway Sle epers.
Wh enever possible it is desirable to prevent
pilgrims. from entering a town , and , where this
cannot be done for re ligious re asons, there must bestrict rule s to prevent overcrowding in lodgingh ouses, while th e intramural conservancy , drainage ,and water-supply must be thorough .
Shops for sup ply of provisions and fruit ,ve ge table s and cooked food , re quire care ful
superv ision and e xcise Shops '
more than ordinary
control . It ismost ne ce ssary to induce th e local
Brahmans and oth ers t o ere ct temporary she ds of
a suitable nature in th e camp m arked out
be fore hand , and much can be done by e stablish ing
a good bazar in a central position in th e camp .
(2 ) Fa irEstablishment.—A list Should be prepared
of t h e e stablishment required , with columns to
Show where they are to be supplie d from , and a
se cond list Should show the ir distribution on arrival .
For a mela of this size some 50 0 kahars, 1 0 0
bhz’
stz’
s with mashaks, 50 0‘
Swe epers, 60 Swe epresses,
50 labourers, 40 0 to 50 01. chowki dars (village
:236 FA I THS , FAIRS ,AND FES TI VAL S .
Watchmen) , 1 0 0 patwarz’
s (village accountants) , 1 0 0
lambardays (he admen) , with a large number of
c lerks, members of local bodie s, and several officers
are re quired, e xclusive of th e police and medical
e stablishments.
Each officer in charge of th e various depart
ments— such as conservancy, water-supply, and
so ou— re ce ive s h is allotted staff from t h e Fair
manager as it arrives and se ts to work in accordance
with h is standing order. Every one knowswhat h is
d uty is, and it remains for th e supervisingoflicers
mere ly to se e that th e orders are obeye d .
(3) Collection ofFe es.— Fe e smay be arrange d for
c olle ct ion'
at th e following rates :
1 . Each pilgrim (includingchildren)
2 . Each Sh 0 pHawkersPe tty Shops having a frontage
of less than 6 fe e t , if theowners are poor or doing asmall busine ss from 0
3. Each draft or riding animaland e ach goat , she epbuffalo, or cow
4 . Each ve hicle
5. Each veh icle plyingfor hire inth e Fair are a 2 0
6. Admission ticke ts to th e town
per person (where th e fairis outside) 3 o
238 FAI THS ,FAIRS , AND FESTI VALS
de cide it ; , i i a pilgrim wishes to know the time of a
train h e must be informed ; when trespassers on
th e roads are found h e must remove them .
(5) M edical A rrangements—The se consist of
fully e quipped general, police , and isolation hosPitals
and an ambulance de tachment . A number of
vaccinators are attach e d to th e blocks forfirst-aid
and other dutie s, a spe cial staff is on duty at th e
railway ‘
Station and at toll-posts for dete ction of
disease among incoming pilgrims. Spe cial duties
are assigned to th e medical e stablishment duringbath ing ceremonie s and for inspection of food in
th e‘
bazar, of th e drinking . water and sanitationgenerally.
(6) Drinking Water-supply.—Where‘ drinking
water has to be obtained from we lls, e laborate
arrangements have to be made to prote ct it . Those
wells which are unfit for use must be effe ctually
closed ; spe cial persons are appointe d to draw th e
water and no unauthorize d vesse l must be let into a
we ll . Large galvanize d iron cist erns, provided with
tapsand prote cted by thatch , are use ful at th e much
fre quente d we lls. Every we ll must be’
disinfe ctedbe fore th e fair commences.
(7) Conservancy—Th e most suitable me thod isth e trench and scre en system. Gangs of labourersshould be continually employed to
'
d igth e trenchesone foot de ep , one foot wide , and one foot apart .These are gradually covere d with loose earth astheyare used . In case .of heavy rain filling t h e trenchesth e earth
’
must be .
put.in- as soon as possible .
MANAGEMENT OF FA IRS . 239
(8) Poli ce Arrangements - T h e force required forduty at th e fa ir, e xclusive of railway police , mayconsist of 1 Superintendent , 1
.
D eputy Superint endent , 4 Europe an Inspe ctors or Sergeants, 4Inspe ctors, 25 Sub- Inspe ctors, 55 He ad Constables,50 0 Constable s, 1 2 Mounte d Constable s, and 40D e te ctive s.
In addition to the ir ordinary dut ies'
oi' watch
and ward , inve stigation of crime , a nd arrest ofoffenders, th e police at a fair have h eavy dutiesto perform in controlling th e crowds during th ebath ing or oth er ceremonies and on th e occasionof arrival and departure of trains ; they have also
t o control th e traffic on th e main roads and assist
when ne cessary in first -a id .
At place s, such as a railway station,where
there is like ly to be a rush by thousands ofpilgrimsat th e close of a fair, it is ne cessary to provide int h e yard a long row of pens (e ach with food, drink
ing-water, and conservancy arrangements) outside
t hese Should be th e t icke t office sheds, and th e outerwall of th e station yard Should be about e ight fe e t
h igh proje ct ing outwards at right angles from th e
outer wall, and Opposite e ach booking office , there
should be a passage consist ing of two kacha walls,
n ine ty fe e t long, two fe e t apart , two fe e t thick, -and
seven fee t high . Th e largest crowd can be effe ctually
controlled by me ans of such a passage which only
admits persons in single file . When a rush occurs
th e people shoot past on e ither side of th e entrance
and then have to circle round in o rder to make
240 FA I THS ,FA I RS , AND FES TI VAL S .
another attempt to enter. They soon get tire d of
doing so and gradually be come content to sit down
quie tly at a distance in rows, when they can be
arranged in small parties and e ach sent through
in single file . D ire ctly there is a sufficient number
round a booking office inside t h e station yard , a
signal is given and t h e ne are st passage is closed by'
one or two constables standing inside t he entrance
to th e passage .
Partie s of rural notables should be told off toassist th e pilgrims in ge tting the ir tickets and to
se e that they are not swindled .
Women and children , cripples,and old men
Should be escorte d through th e passage after
sele ction from th e wait ing crowd .
It is important that a large number of pens
Should be used for e ach train and that e ach pen
should only have in it a number small enough for
easy control . Th e pens sh ould be Opened one at a
time when a train h as tobe loade d , and then againitis th e we ak who re quire assistance and prote ct ion.
A gateway or any kind of Opening in a straight
wall , when unprov ide d with a proje cting passage ,is a trap towards wh ich t h e crowd concentratesand where crushing cannot fail to occur.
Pal ings of wooden railway sle epers, stuck verti
cally with two fe e t of the ir ends in th e ground
make very e ffe ctual barriers and when successiverows are place d at a slant en ech elon are most use ful
for dividing up a crowd advancing , say , on th e
dangerous part of a tank .
INDEX.
Th e followinglist forms both a glossary and index .
A BDULLA .—Father ofMuhammad , 1 75.
A BHAYA .-Prote cting, 75.
A BORIGINALS OF INDIA , 1 27.
ABRAHAM , 1 75, 1 84, 2 0 3.
AB U TAL 1 13.—Uncle and guardian of Muhammad , 1 75.
A CARA.—Establi she d custom , 32 .
A DAM .—Regarde d as a prophet in th e Qoran , 1 84 .
AD BHIR .—Waters, 56.
ADHOBHI R .-D ays, 56.
AD I G RANTH . First B ook of S ikhs 1 66.
AD 1 1‘I .—An Aryan goddess, 1 0 .
ADITYA .—Th e sun , 81 .
AFRI G AN .-A Parse e prayer-book
,2 2 1 .
AGHA K HAN.—A ce le brated Pir, 2 1 3.
AGN1 .-G od Of fire , 1 1 , 2 2 .
AGNIHOTRI. -A Brahm an who ke eps five sacred fires burning, 37.
AGNOSTIC .—One wh o ne ither affirm s nor den i es th e existence of
God .
AHAVAN1YA .-One of th e fiv e sacred fires, 37.
A HRIMAN.-Ev i l thought. Th e Parse e S atan ,
’2 1 9 .
AHURA MAZDA.-Th e Zoroastri an G od , G od of he aven , good
thought, 1 0 .
AKALIS .—S ikh fanati cs, 1 68.
A KTUBHIH .—Bright lights, 56.
A LEXANDER THE G REAr.— Invasion by 4 .
AL L—Son-in-law ofMuhammad and fourth Khali f, 1 77,1 96, 2 06.
ALLAH .—Muslim nam e for God ,
1 77.
A LLAM .—Standard of Imam Husain , 1 97.
244 INDEX .
A 1. QADR.—Th e name of t h e night on which th e Qoran cam e
down from h eaven ,182 .
AMARD AD -SAL.—A
_
Parse e festival, 230 .
AMAR DAs.—Th e 3rd S ikh Guru , 165.
AMAs.—Moonless period of a. month.
AMAVASYA .—Th e conjuncti on of th e sun and moon (or other
ce lestial bodi es), th e i de s Of th e month, always reckonedth e 3oth of th e lunarmonth, 98.
AM1NA.—MotherofMuhammad , 1 75.
AMMAN.-A Hindu godling.
ANANTA.—Eternity sym boli ze d in th e form of
'
a snake swallow
ing i ts own tai l, 62 .
ANAR Sm art —A godling in K angra .
A NDAMAN I SLANDS . -In t h e B ay of B engal, 2 .
ANG AD A.—Th e zud S ikh Guru ,
1 65.
ANG REzr.- English.
ANxAs.—Hook for guiding an e lephant.
ANNA' FRASANA.-Ceremony of fe eding an infant with
rice , 33.
A p sARAs.—Naiads ap, water and sum , froth , 9 1 .
ARANYA .—Woods.
ARANYAKAs.—Treatises for forest re cluses, 1 5.
ARJAN .-Th e sth S ikh Guru , 165.
A RYAN G ODS—Sim ilarity be twe en and those of th e Gre eks.
and Romans, IO.Ani mus—The ir Asiati c hom e , 2 , 9.
A RYA SAMA] .—A modern Hi ndu se ct, 1 33.
ARYA VAR '
rA .—A.nci ent nam e of part of India , 3.
A S AVA '
rnYA .—One of th e five sacre d fires, 37.
A SHURA. -S pe cial.AsoxA .
—An Emperor of anci ent India , 5.
A SRAMA.—A stage .
A S THAN SAYAD MAHMUD .—A Muslim saint of Karnal, 2 1 4.
A SVINAS .—Morning stre aks of light, 1 1 .
A TASH -AD ARANS .-Fire -temple s of th e Parse es, 2 2 3.
ATASH -BAHRAMS .—Fire -temples of th e Parse es, 2 2 3.
ATHEISM.—Disbeli e f in th e e xistence of God .
AVA ARDU SUR JASAN.—A Parse e festival, 2 30 .
AvATARs.- Incarnations, 2 3.
AYESHA.—Daughter of Abu B ekr and second wife of Muh ammad , 1 77.
An n—Muslim call to prayer, 1 90 .
246 INDEX .
B UNIA . A gra in m erchant .
B URKAH .—A covering or v e i l for pardah wom e n , 1 87.
B UZHAN.—A Tibetan strolling friar, 1 53.
CALENDARHindu, 78.
Muslim , 1 94 .
Parse e , 2 27.
CAMPS . -At fairs, 2 37.
CASTE.—Among th e Hindus, 28.
CAULA .—Ceremony of tonsure , 33.
OEY1,ON.—Invaded by Ram a w ith an army of monke ys, 43.
CHAKRA.—A disc or quoit, 61 .
CHAMPA.—(Miche li a Champaca ) . A flower with wh ich th e Hindu!
Cupid decorates h is arrow ,1 0 7.
CHANDANA .—VVh i t e clay use d in m aking caste -m arks
, e tc . , 1 24
GRANDL—S ilver.
1
CHANDRA.-Th e moon ,
1 03.
CHAUL AM .—Cerem ony of pi ercing t h e e ars, 51 .
CHEATrNo .-Forbidden in th e Qoran , 1 89 .
Gri mm—Emblem .
CHINVAD J—Bridge le ading to paradise , 2 2 1 .
CHIRAGH.—A small earthenware saucer i n which oi l and wi ck
are burnt as a lam p.
CHONK.—A sacred She ll, 62 .
CH0 T 1 .—Tuft of h a ir on t h e t'
op of a Hindu ’
s h e ad , 34 .
CHR1$T1ANS , 2 0 5.
CHUR IG ARIAN .-A se ct of Parse es, 2 28.
Coma— Sacre d to th e Hindus and Parse e s, 72 , 2 2 1 .
CREATION .—Zoroastrian the ory
,2 29 .
CRESCENT.—A symbol, 76.
CUDA KARMAN .—Tonsure ceremony, 33 .
D AK SHINA .—‘One of th e fiv e sacre d fire s, 37.
D ALAD R.-Thri ftle ss, poor.
D ALAI L AMA.—Hi gh Pri est of th e Tibe tans, 1 54 .
D ARBAR S AHIB .—A name giv e n by t h e S i khs to the ir B i ble , 173
D ARS ANAs. R eflections of wisdom ,
’ be ing comm entari e s on
t h e Veda , 1 8.
D ASM1 . —Tenth.
D ASTUR.—Parse e High Prie st, 2 2 2 .
D ATA G ANJ B AKSH SAHIB .-A Muslim shrine a t L ahore , 2 1 2 .
D EISM.-B e li e f in one G od , but not in re ve lation .
INDEX. 247
D e mons—Feare d by th e aboriginals, 8.
D ERVESH.-A Muslim asce tic , 2 0 8.
D EVA.-A spirit, godling.
D EV-SAMAJ .—A H indu Soci ety, 1 39 .
D EVA1 1 .—Mother of Krishna , 25.D HAMMAPADA. —Path of v irtue , 1 46.
D HARMA. -D uty or righte ousness, som e times personified as
'
a , god , 1 35.
D HARM S HASTRAS.—Anci ent Hindu codes of law , 1 4, 32 .
D HATURA. fastuosa ) Thorn apple , a poisonous plant , 90 .
D HUL-HAJJA.—A Muslim month, 1 95, 2 0 1 .
D HUL-QADA .—A Muslim month , 1 95, 20 1 .
D IGAMBARA.—S ky -clad , 1 57.
D 1N .-Practi ce , 1 83.
D IPAVAL I .—(Se e D iwali ) . A row of li ghts, 1 0 4 .
D 1v.—G iants
,2 1 0 .
D IVORCE—Among Muslims, 1 88.
D IWALI .—Th e H indu lam p festival,1 0 4 .
D IWAN.—A tribunal, also a. m inister.
D IWANI S eam us—Mad ascetics, a sect of S ikhs, 1 7 1 .
D IWAN K HANA. -C0 unci1 Cham ber.
D OG -GAZE. -Ceremony at th e de ath of a'
Parse e , 2 26.
D OKHMA.- Tower of S i lence , a place where Parse es e xpose
the ir dead , 2 26.
D OZAKH .-Th e Parse e he ll, 2 2 1 .
D RAVID IANS . -A race in Southern India ,1 .
D ULDUL.-Th e horse of I mam Husa in , 1 97.
D unc—Far away.
D URGA.-A H indu godd e ss, 65.
D URGA PUJA.—A Hindu fe stival, roo .
D USSEHRA. Tenth day fe stival, 1 0 1 .
D UTCH .—In India ,
6.
D WAPARA YUGA .—Th e two part age , 78.
D WARA. —A gate .
D YAUS . —A god correspond ing to Zeus of th e Gre e k, 1 0 .
D YAus-PrrAR .—Corresponds to th e Rom an Jupiter, ’ J o.
EVIL EYE—Marks to attract th e 2 1 7.
Ru ns
Articles re quire d for 2 33.
Camps at
248 INDEX .
FAIRSConservancy, 2 38.
Entra ining of pi lgrims at
Establishm ent re quired , 2 35.
Fe es a t 2 36.
Horrors of in form er days, 2 31 .
Managem ent of 2 31 .
Medical arrangem ents, 2 38.
Police at 2 39.
Pre liminary steps, 2 32 .
Steps taken by Bri tish Governm ent t o m itigate suflering, 2 32
‘
Water-supply, 2 38.
FAKIR .-A Muslim asce t ic, 2 0 8.
FARs.—Persia , 2 2 0 .
FARVARDIN.—A Parse e guardian ange l, 230 .
FARz.—Ne ce ssary .
FATIMA.-Th e daughter of Muhammad and Kh ad i ja , 2 0 6.
FESTIVALSHindu, 160 .
Muslim , 1 94 .
Parse e , 2 29.
F1RE .—Parsee ’s symbol of God , 2 2 1 .
Frans—Th e five sacred fire s of th e B rahm ans are Ah avani ya ,
Asavath ya , D aksh ina , G arh ap atya , S abh ya , 37.
FIVE Ks.—Th e five signs of initiation into S ikhism , 1 67.
Econ—K inds of forbidden to Muslims, 1 9 1 .
FRENCH .—In India
, 6.
FRIDAY.—Th e Special day for Muslim prayers, 2 0 4.
G ABRIEL—Th e Ange l and Muhammad , 1 77, 182 .
G AH.—A Parse e prayer-book, a watch of th e day , 2 2 0 , 2 28.
G AHAMB AR.—D ays ofre st duringt h e Cre at ion , 2 29 .
GANDARVA .-A classofgeni i , also choristers ofIndra ’
s heaven, 75.
G ANESHA. -A Hindu god , 65.
G ANG A .-In Hindu mythology th e personi fie d goddess of th e
Ganges, 72 .
G ANGES .—Th e gre at river sacred to t h e Hindus, 72 .
G AO-MUKH1 . —Th e Cow-mouth, ’ a chasm in a glaci er in t h e
Himalayas, whence th e sacred Gange s bursts forth intoth e world, 72 .
G AREKA-DHANA .—A ceremony at conception, 33
GARHAPATYA.—0 ne of th e five sacred fires, 37.
HARAPPA.—A village in th e Montgom ery district, 2 1 0 .
HAREMS, 186.HAR G ov1ND .
—0 ne of t h e te n Sikh Gurus, 1 65.HAR K RISHAN.—0ne of th e ten S ikh Gurus, 165.HAR RA1 .—One of th e ten S i kh G urus, 1 65.HARDWAR.
—A sacred place on t h e Ganges, 1 1 0 .
HASSAN.—One of'
the sons of Ali , 1 80 .
HAsrA .-Hand.
HAUBAL .—A learned Muslim doctor, 2 0 7.
HAzm us.—
,A sect of S i khs, 1 70 .
HELL—Of th e Muslims, 184. Of th e Parse es, 2 2 1 .
HERBAD .—Th e lower order of Parse e pri ests, 2 22.
HURA.—Th e Muslim era ,literally flight,’ 1 78, 1 94.
HINAYANA.—A branch of Buddhist scri pture , literally li ttlevehicle , ’ 146.
Hrrm m sm, 1 3 to 1 40 .
HmANYA KAsmrApU .—A demon -king, 24.
HOLAKA -A demoness, li terally half-ripe corn ,
’ 85.
Hon u—Th e Hindu Saturnalia , 85.
Hora—A Parse e ange l, 2 2 1 .
HOMA .—Sa.cred liquor
'
of th e Parse e s, 2 1 9 .
HUSAIN.—0 ne of th e sons ofAli , 180 .
HusArN D ALAN.-A Shiah ceremoni al apartment, 1 96.
I BRAHIM.—Abm hm , 1 75.
I D .-A Muslim festival, 2 0 1 .
ID -GAH.-0 p en bui lding where th e Id is celebrate d , 2 0 1 .
ID -UL -Prn .-Feast of bre aking t h e fast, 2 0 0 .
ID -UL -QURBAN.—Fe ast ofsacrific e , 20 1 .
IO -UL -ZUHA.—Fe ast of daylight, 20 1 .
M in n—S acred clothes, 2 0 2 .
IMAM.—A Muslim leader, 1 90 , 2 06.
IMAMBARA.—A Shiah ceremonial apartment, 1 96.
IMAN.—Faith, 183.
INDRAu—God ofrain and ofthunder, h is heaven is Swarga ,lND US .
—Aryans on th e banks of t h e 9.
I SA.—j esus, 184.
I SLAM.—Sa.ints. sects, and superstitions, 1 74.
JAE—Victory, 1 0 2 .
JAGGANATH.—Lord of th e World , 61 .
Ja mav.—163.
JANNAT.—Muslim paradise , 1 84.
INDEX . 251
JANNU .—B rahman
’s sacred thre ad , 36.
Ju n k—Knows.
JA'
rA K ARMAN .—Ceremony of fe eding an infant a t birth , 33.
JEHENNAM .—One of th e Muslim h e lls, 184 .
Je sus—A proph et of Islam ,184 .
J INA .-A spiritual hero of th e Jains, 1 55.
]1Ns.—The ir existence m enti one d in th e Qoran , 2 1 0 .
J IVA.-L i fe , 1 55.
JNANA -KANDA .—A sacred ide a in th e Upanishads, 1 7.
JOOG AL .—Th e first pa ir of th e hum an spec ies, 94 .
JOWALA-MUKH1 .—A place in K angra , literally flame smouth ,
’ 69
]UBHL A .—S ilk frock of a Parse e child , 2 24 .
K AABA—Tl-1 e holy temple of th e Muslims at Me cca , 2 0 2 .
K A3 1R .—A ce lebrated Mitslim sa int , 1 64.
K ACHH .—D rawers like shorts,’ 1 67.
K AD IM I .—A se ct of Parse es, 2 28.
K ALI . -A godd ess, w i fe of S iva,65.
K ALI YUGA .—Th e present Ev i l Age ,
’26, 79 .
K ALKI . -An incarnation of V ish nu , ye t to com e , 2 3.
K A1 .LAR K AHAR.-A v i llage and salt lake in t h e Salt Range , 2 1 6
K AMA .—Th e Hindu Cup id , 68.
K ANI SHKA .—A B uddh ist monarch , 5.
K ANSA .—A king ofMa th ura ,
25.
K ARA .-An iron bangle .
K ARMA .—Own acts, 1 43.
K ARMA-KANDA .—A sacred ide a in th e Upanish ads, 1 7.
K ARM-pHAL .—Conse quence of acts, 32 .
K ARNAL. -A town and district north of D e lhi , 2 1 5.
K ATAK SHA .—Rai ning eye , 1 1 6.
K ArA5 .—A sacred tank in th e Salt Range , 1 16.
K AURAVAS . -Th e sons of Kuru , 2 5.
K ERBALA .-Massa cre at 1 96.
K iss—Uncut ha ir, 1 67.
K E S ANTA .—Cut tlng ha ir, 33.
K E SDHAR I S .-A S i kh sect , 1 70 .
K HAD I JA .—First wi fe of Muhamma d ,
1 76.
K HALIF.—S 1i ccessor, 1 79 .
KHAL IFA .4'
crvants or m e ssengers of a Pir,2 1 2 .
KHALIF OSMAN .—T
_h e 4t h K hali f, wh o in 650 A .D . prepare d
an authoritative te xt of t h e Qoran,1 82 .
KHALSA .-A S ikh sect, 1 7 1 .
.252IND EX .
K HALSA D 1WAN.—A S ikh counci l or comm itte e , 1 7 1 .
K HANDA.-A tv
’
vo-edged kni fe or dagge r, 167.
K 11ANGA .—A com b , 1 67.
K HANGAH .—Muslim shrine or tom b , 2 1 2 .
KHASIAS .—A tribe in Eastern Ind ia , 2 .
'
K 11 AUJAN.—(Motace lla alba ) Wagta i l, 1 0 1 .
KHERA .-Th e founda t ion shrine of a v illage , 75.
K HORDA AvEsrA .—Th e L ittle Scripture of t h e
Parse e s, 2 2 0 .
K HORDAD S AL—A Parse e festival , .- 2 29 .
KHUDA.—Th e general nam e
'
for God , 59 .
K HUTBA .—A sermon de livered aft er d iv ine serv ice ev ery Friday
,
and a t th e I d . in wh ich th e pre acher ble sses Muhamm ad ,h is successors, and t h e re ign ing sovere ign, 1
-
90 .
K HWAJA MOOEN-UD -D IN,CHI S EL—A ce lebrated Muslim sa int
2 1 3.
K HWAJR K H12 R .—Th e god ofwater, 7 1 .
KoLs.—A tribe in North ern .B enga1, 2 .
K ONDHS .—A tribe in Orissa , 2 .
K oL ARIANs.—Prim itive tribes, 2 .
K ORKUS . -A tribe in Central India , 2 .
K os Muslim—Mile stones, 2 1 5.
KRISHNA.—A popular Hindu de i ty, 2 3.
’
K igrrA YUGA.—’
l‘
h e ' Golden Age or that of ‘ Trut h , ’ 78.
K SHATRIYA.—Militar
_y caste , 29 .
Known —Tam il for top -knot, 34 .
K ua r— G ods of 1 20 .
KUMBH .—Aquarius, or th e water-bearer,
’is th e e le vent h si gn
in th e zod iac. When Vrisp a ti (Jupiter) is i n th e K um bhRashi (sign ) and Sura j (t h e Sun ) en ters t h e Me sh (Ari e s)Rashi , t h e period comm encing from 1 hour 1 2 m inute sbe fore and ending 1 hour 1 2 m inut es after that ev entis called th e K umbh tim e for th e fa ir of that nam e a t
Hardwar. Th e K umbh at Allahabad is sim i larly cal
culate d from when Jupiter is i n Ari e s and th e Sun ente rsth e
'
Makara (Capricorn ) Rashi . There is a lso'
a Kumbhmela on t h e Rive r Godaveri , 1 1 1 .
KUNKUMA .—A scarlet powder used at Hindu fe stivals and on
other occasions, 75.
KURMA.—Tortoise , 2 3.
KURUKSHE‘
I RA.—Th e fie ld of
‘
K uru , to th e north of
D e lhi , 3, 81 .
MEDICAL ARRANGEMENTS.—At fa irs, 2 38.
M EDINA.—In Arabia, 1 78.
M e a nt—Th e last Imam . 2 0 6.
MELA.—A fair.
MIAN HAJ I.—Makbarra at Bom bay, 2 1 5.
a nsa—A disquisi tion on th e Veda by Jaimini , 1 1 9.
M1 1 11RA .—God of heavenly light. a Parse e ange l, 2 19, 2 30 .
Ma ma s—Th e su n, 82 .
MOAvrAH.—A Muslim general, 1 96.
Momma—Middle order of Parse e pri ests , 2 2 2 .
MOKSHA .-L iberat ion of th e soul from th e bonds of action, 1 7,
1 59 .
MONEY-LENDING.—Forbidden in th e Qorau, 188.
MoNorHEISM .—B e li e f in one God .
Monsoon—Me ans se ason from mansam.
Mourns—Hindu, 80 ; Muslim , 1 95 ; Parsee , 2 27.
Mose s—(Musa ) A prophe t of th e Muslims, 184.
M UAzzm . -Caller to Muslim prayers, 1 90 .
MUHAMMAD. Pra ised one . ) Founder and prophe t of Isla m,1 74.
MUHARRAM .—A Muslim month and festival, 1 96, 20 1 .
MUKHI .—M0 utll .
Ma m a—Muslim pri est.MUMTAZ MAHAL.
—Wi fe of th e Emperor S hah Jahan. 1 93Mumns.
—Followers or disciple s.
Mus1.m .—Cre ed , 1 75 Death ceremoni es, 1 9 1 Era . 1 94 FasfS .
1 94 ; Festi vals, 1 94.
Invasions, 5 ; Month s, 1 95 New Year’s Day, 1 95Prayer, 189.
NAGAs.—B e ings of a form half-human,
half-snake , dwe lling inPatala . th e netherworld , 93.
Nu ns—A tribe in Madras, 2 .
NAKsnArRA .—Asterism
, 79.
NAMA KARANA. -Na.m ingceremony, 33.
Nu bi a—Muslim prayer, 1 75.
NANAK.-Th e first .Si kh Guru and founder of th e Sikh religion,
1 64.
NARIYAL .-A cocoanut, 97.
Nu n—A nature spirit, 1 51 .
NATHDWARA.—A holy place in Ra jputana, 1 1 1 .
NAU-GAJA.-A giant. literally nine yarder,’ 2 1 0 .
INDEX . 255
NAUTCH.—A dance
, 88.
NEPAL. -A kingdom be twe en India and Tibe t,2 .
NERBUDDA R 1VER .— L egend of th e 55.
NES SU S - SALAR .—Pa.rse e pall-bearers, 2 26.
NEW YEAR’S D rum—Muslim , 1 96 Hindu , 82 ; Parse e , 2 2 9 .
NIKAH-KHWAN.—Mu$lim m arriage re ader, 187.
NI RANG .—Urine of th e cow, 2 2 1 .
NIRMALA SADHUS .—A se ct of S ikhs, 1 72 .
NI SHKRAMANA .—Cerem0 1ry of taking a chi ld out to se e th e
sun , 35.
N IYOGA .-Temporary m arriage , a practice of members of th e
Arya Sama j , 1 34 .
NOAH .—A Muslim prophe t, 1 84 .
N0 0 H .—Noah.
NUR-1 -MUHAMMAD .—L ight ofMuhammad , 2 0 6.
NUR SHAH .-An Arabian giant, 2 1 0 .
NYAYA .-A phi losophical analysis of th e Veda , 18.
NYAY I S .—A Parse e prayer-book, 2 2 1 .
-OM . A mysti cal word used by Hindus, 36.
'OMAR .—One of th e K hali fs, 1 79 .
OL D T ESTAMENT, 183.
O SMAN.—One of th e Khali fs, 1 79 , 1 82 .
O XUS .—A river in Central Asia , 2 .
PAHAR .—A quarter, or watch, of a day .
PAGODA .- A B urm ese temple , 1 50 .
PA'
HUL —S i kh rite of ini t iation , 1 67 .
PAKPATTAN .-A town in th e Punjab, 2 1 2 .
PAKSHA .—Fortn ight, 98.
PAN .-Th e be tel le a f used for masti cating slices of are ca nut
wi th lim e and other things, 1 0 6.
PANCHAM I .~—Fi fth , 93.
PANCHAYAT .-A. counci l, originally of five m embers.
PANDA.—A here di tary pri est at a temple , 38.
PAND ARAMs.-Low-caste pri e sts, 94.
PANDAVAs.—Th e five sons ofPandu and heroes of th e Maha
bharata , 46.
PANDU .-Five stone s daubed wi th red and regarded as guardians
of th e fie lds in Southern Indi a , 72 .
PANIPAT.—TOWll , north of D e lhi , .
2 1 5.
PANTH .—A road , pathway.
PANTHA .—A sect, re ligious order.
256 INDEX .
PANTHEISM.—B e lie f that th e univ erse , taken as a whole , is God'
PANTHEON.—Colle ctive body of div i ni ti es worshipped by
pe 0 p1e .
PARAD i SE .—Muslim , 1 84 Parse e , 2 2 1 .
PARASU RAMA.—An incarnation ofVishnu
,2 3.
PARDAH .-A system underwhich wom en are ke pt in se clusion ,
literally scre en ,
’
39 , 1 86.
PAROHI T .—Fa.m i ly pri est, 38.
PARs.—Persia ,
’
2 2 0 .
PARSEES .—A race from Persia , 5 Counci l of 2 2 3 Cre ed of
2 2 2 .
Customs of S acre d fire , 2 2 3. S acred liquor. B irthmarri age and de ath ceremoni e s oi
'
2 2 5.
PARVAN .—A volume or book , 45.
PASALA .-A Ja in m onastery, 1 58.
PASH .—A cord for strangling sinners, 67
PATET1 .—Th e Parse e New Ye ar’s D av ,
’
2 29 .
PERL—Fa iri e s, 2 1 0 .
PESH IMAM—L e ader of de votion in a Sunni mosque , 2 0 7 .
PHALA. -Frult , 87.
PHAL GU .—Fructi fyingquality, a riverin th e United Prov i nce s, 99
PHULA .-Flower, 87.
PI 15A1 ..—(Ficus re ligiosa . ) A sacre d tre e of th e fig fam i ly, 9 1 ,1 43.
P1R .—A Muslim re ligi ous le ader, 2 1 2 .
PrrAKA .—B aske ts, 1 46.
P1TRrs.—D ece ased ancestors, 1 2 , 9 0 .
P1TR1 -PAT1 .—L ord of th e ance st ors, 67.
POLYANDRY.-Possessi on of more than one husband a t a tim e
POLYGAMY.—Possession of m ore than one wi fe a t a t im e .
POLYTHE 1SM .—'
B e li e f in th e plurali ty of gods.
PONGAL.—A Tam i lword m e aning boi ling,
’a fe stival in Southern
India , 82 .
PORTUGUESE .-.In India , 6.
PRAHL AD .—S on of a dem on-king, 24.
PRARTHANA .—Prayer, 1 32 .
PRAYAGA .—A conjunction”
of rivers, 81 .
PRAYAS- CHIT.
‘
-Rules of penance , 32 .
PRAYER.—Enjoined by th e Qoran , 189.
PRE-ARYAN TR 1 13Es.-B eli efS
'
of 7.
PRITHVI .—Th e earth, a, godde ss, 1 1 , 68.
PUJA.—Prayers orworship, 97.
258 IND EX .
RozA .—Fast, 1 75.
RUDRA.—A sem i -div ine be ingm entioned in th e R igVeda , 22 , 1 2 3.
S ABHA .- Society.
SAa A .—One of th e five sacred fire s, 37.
S ADH OR S i D 1 1 .—A sa int or holy man .
S ADHU .—A Hindu re ligious m endicant or ascetic , literallypious, v irtuous, 1 1 2 .
SADHVI .—A chaste wom an , a female ascetic.
S AGAR .—Th e oce an .
S AG -D 1 1) .—Dog-
gaze ceremony a t Parse e obse qui e s, 2 26.
S AGR1 .—Parse e fire temple , 2 27.
S AINTS or I SLAM , 2 1 0 .
SAIVA .—A worshipper of S iva .
S AJADA NASHIN .—Occupi er of a post , 2 1 2 .
SAKA .—A Hindu era , 79 .
S AKHI SARWAR .—A place in th e D era G hazi Khan district, 2 1 2 .
SAKTAs.—A Hindu asce tic sect, 26, 60 .
SAKTI . -Female energy, 26.
S AL AG RAM .—A black stone be aring fossi l impression of an
ammoni te , 54, 96.
S ALT RANGE—Shrine in th e 2 16. Salt lake in th e 2 1 7.
S AMADH .—Tomb of a jogi .
S AMAJ . -A Hindu soci e ty, 1 3 1 .
SAMAVARTANA .—Ceremony on com ple t ion of a Brahman
’
s
studi es, 34 .
S AMVAT.-A Hindu era ,
SANATANA D HA‘RMA. —A Hindu soci ety, 1 34 .
SAN1 .—Saturn , 81 .
S ANI AHET.—S e cre t concentration , 1 1 3.
S ANJAN .—Th e place where th e Parse e s first se ttled in India , 2 2 0 .
SANK YA .—A phi losophical tre atise by K apila , 18.
S ANNYAs.- Abandonment of all worldly affections.
S ANNYASIS .—A class of ascetic, 34, 83.
SANSKARA .—A purificatory rite , 33.
S ANTHAL s.—A tribe in North ern B engal, 2 .
S APHAR. —A Muslim month , 1 95.SAPTIML—S eventh.
S ARASVAT1 .—Th e goddess daughter and wi fe of Brahma,
60 . 77
S ettlem ent of th e Aryans on th e banks of th e Ri ver
north ofDe lhi , 3, 1 3.
INDEX . 259
S ARD1 .—A d0 g
’s shrine at in t h e Salt Range , 2 1 7.
SAS SANrAN D YNASTY, 2 29.
SAI TU .‘—Mea.l of parched grain .
SAvAD SHAH ZAHUR .- ~A sa int of Allahabad , 2 1 3.
S CYTH1ANs.—An anci ent race of Central Asia , 4.
S ENDU B 1R .—A wh istlingspiri t, 70 .
S EsnA .- Th e gre at serpent on whi ch th e world rests.
SHABAN .—A Muslim month, 1 95.
SHAB- 1 -B ARAT.-Th e night of record , 1 99 .
SHAF1 .—A le arne d Muslim doctor, 2 0 7.
SHA11 AD A '
r.—Th e te stimony, 1 75.
SHAHANSHAB I .—A gre at Parse e se ct, 2 28.
SHAHID S .—Muslim m artyrs, 2 1 4.
SHAKAR-GANJ .—A name of B aba Fari d , li terally “Sugar-store‘
2 1 3.
S im i a n—Nam e of th e man wh o ki lled Husain, 1 99.
SHASHTL—S ixth .
S HASTRAS. -Codes, 1 4, 18.
S HAWAL.—A Muslim month, 1 95, 2 0 0 .
SHER IF.—Holy.
SHIAHS .—A Muslim so“, 1 96, 2 0 6.
S 1 D DHANTA .—Conclusion, 1 61 .
S 1K11 .—Th e r
e ligion. sects, 1 63.S IKHA.
—S anskri t for tuft ofhair on head , 34.
S 1 K 1 1 1$M .—D ifi culty in defining 163, 169 .
$1MANT0 MAYANA .—Ceremony of arranging th e mother’s hair,
33
S INGH .—L ion, 1 66.
S INGH S ABHA .—A S ikh soci e ty, 1 71 .
S IRAT.—A bridge , 184.
S I ROZAH.—A Parse e prayer-book, 2 2 1 .
SrTALA .—Goddess ofsmallpox, 74.
S IVA (SHIV).—Th e third god of th e Hindu trini ty, 22 .
SKANDA.—A Hindu god , 66.
Sun n a h—Goddesses of, 74.
SMR ITL—Rem em bere d (appli e d to holy sayings), 1 4SNAKE G ODS .So D ARU.
—Part of th e Adi Granth, 1 72 .
S OR ILA .—A porti on of th e Adi Granth. I 72
S om .—Th e moon. A sacred liquor, juice of saaostemma
vimi nale , 1 1 , 81 .
So PURKHU.—Pa.rt of th e Ad i Granth, 1 72 .
260 INDEX .
SPENTA ARMATI .—A Parse e ange l, 2 2 1 .
S p 1R1Ts.-Ev il of th e mounta ins, 8.
S RADDHA. —Ceremony in honour of deceased ancestors, 67.
S RAVAKA. -A Jain layman, 1 58.
S RAVSHA .—A Parse e ange l, 2 2 1 .
S RUTI.—Inspired (appli ed to Hindu scriptures), 1 4, 1 5.
SUB L—B right half of t h e moon .
S,UDRA.—A garm ent used by Parse es at a certai n cerem onv ,
2 24.
SUDRAs.—
.Aboriginals or serv i le castes, 1 2 , 29 .
S ums—A Muslim sect, 2 08.
S UKRA.—Venus, 81 .
S UNNAH .-Traditi on , 20 5.
SUNNAT.—Circumcision .
SuNN1s.- A Muslim se ct, 1 98, 2 0 5.
SUPERSTITIONS or I SLAM.—2 I O.
SURA.—A chapter, 1 74.
SURAT. -Town north of B ombay, 5.
SURYA.—Th e sun ,
1 1 , 83.
SUTRA. -S ee Shastra .
’
SUTTEE.—A widow wh o burns herself with h er dece asedhusband’s corpse , 52 , 58.
SUVAR .+I-Ie aven, 36.
SVETAMBARA.—A sect of Ja ins, literally clothe d in wh ite , ’ 1 57.
SWASTICA.—A Hindu Symbol, 76.
Tu n—D e claration, 1 75.
TA] MAHAL. Th e—shrine a t Agra ,1 93.
TAKHAT.—Throne .
TAKYA.—A Shi ah shrine, 1 96.
TAMJ ID .—Pa.rt of t h e Qalima , 1 75.
TANTRAs.-Hindu scriptural writings of a low class, 26.
TARPAN1 . —Grat ificat ion, satisfaction ; hence offering of wate r99
TAT KHALSA.—A se ct of S ikhs, 1 71 .
TATTVA .—’
Druth , 1 58.
TAUHlD .—Part of th e Qalima , 1 75.
TAwrzr -Tali sman , 2 18.
TAZIA.—An imitation shrine taken out at Muharram festiv al , 1 98Te e B AHADUR.
—Th e ninth S ikh G uru , 1 65.
T1 1.AK .—Caste mark on forehe ad , 1 2 3.
T1 1 11 1 .—A lunarday, 81 .
262 INDEX .
WAHAB.—Maternal grandfather of Muhammad , 1 75.
Winn e rs—A sect ofMuslims, 2 0 7.
WALL—An agent, 206.
W1TC11 0 RAFT.-Aboriginal beli e fs in 9.
WOMEN.—Musli rn, 185 Hindu, 38 Parse e , 2 27.
YAMA.-Th e first man, 1 2 , 67.
YAJNAVALKYACODE .-A Hindu code of laws, 32 .
YASNA. -Part of th e Avesta , 2 2 0 .
YAST.—Parse e psalms, 22 1 .
YATHREB .—Medina , 1 78.
YAr1 .—A Jain ascetic, 1 58.
YA2EED .—Son ofMoaviah , 1 96.
YEZD EJ I RD .—Th e last Sassanian k ing, 2 29 .
YOGA.—Union wi th th e D iv ine spiri t,1 7, 1 9 .
YON1 .—Th e female emblem , 2 2 , 1 30 .
Yama .—An age or Period , 58.
ZAMZAM.- A sacred well at Mecca , 2 0 3.
ZENANA.—Female apartments, 186.
ZEND-AVESTA.—Scripture of t h e Parse es
, 5, 2 20 .
ZERTUSHT . S ee Zoroaster.
’
ZOROASTER. -Founder of th e Parse e re ligion , 5, 2 2 0 .
ZUKAr—Charity, 1 75.
ZULFAKAR.—A large glass case used at. th e Muharram fest ival,
1 97.
