The mountain Democrat. [volume] (Placerville, El Dorado County, Calif.) 1863-1943, 1864-12-24
The Great JugEernaut saturnalLA-
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the Suan Jatra and the Roth Jatra-the
two great festivals Of JuggeTnaut which
are SO widely celebrated in Hindostan.-
Commencing on Sunday, the 19.h June,
by the priests bringing forth the god to Do
bathed, it terminated on the 9th ult., when
the cars were drawn back by thousands of
people and the god was replaced in bis
home.
The writer attended both these ceremo-
Dies, and the details into which he enters
will speedily dispel any idea as to the Hin.
docs having abandoned the horrible prac.
tice Of throwing themselves under the
wheels of the Juggernaut car. Passing
over the bathing portion of the business,
which seems to have partaken Of the char
acter Of farce, we will at once come to
the closing part Of the festival, which is
said to have been most sickening and re-
voting tragedy, and one which it was i'm
possible to witness without horror ard
disgust: ------
The crowd seemed infinitely more
dense than it had ever been on the former
occasion, and all along the road were booths
filled with sweetmeats, hideous masks,
trumpery, Birmingham ware and images
Of Juggernaut, Krishna and other deities
Of the Iiindoo mythology. 1t was bar
barous copy OF n country fair. There
were whistles and tom-toms, shclliish,
smelling horribly in the sun, huge lack
fruit, some damaged pine apples, and here
and there a rudely contrivcd merry go
round with stout babies enjoying the
sport which that machine is capable of
furnishing.
"There were nautch girls, hidcously
ugly, chanting their drawing, monotonous
strains to the music of an old fiddle and
tom-tom. Then there were little acrobats
who made 'Cathere wheels like the boys
who run, or used TO run, by the side Of
omnibuses in London streets.
"The centres Of attraction were the two
Juggernaut cars. These are immense lum.
bering masses of wood, about sixty feet
in hight, carved into all sorts Of angles,
and decorated on every square inch with
figures of the deities. They are construct
ed in four stories, so to speak, and upon
each Of these a crowd Of Brahmins and
their friends we're collected. Large idols
were placed at each corner, and two ropes
of great length were attached to the front
of the car. They moved upon six heavy
wheels, and the entire weight of the pom
derous fabric must have been enormous.
Hour after hour the multitude streamed
past the cars, which were at some distance
| from each other, or they turned aside to o
shed beneath which were placed mum.
Der Of indecently painted idols, decorated
with little drapery, and hoisted on the
! car
at was not until four in the Afternoon
that big gong was beaten on the topmos
division Of the first car, and with n grea
shout Juggernaut himself swathed in rec
cloth, wns brought TO the spot. A rope
was fastened to him, and with much exer.
tion he was hoisted from stage to stage by
the Brahmins-for by himself the god
seemed rather helpless. They dragged
him up and uncovered him and the crowd
salaamed to him in their usual fashion,
A huge ugly thing he was, with enormous
eyes, painted black, with a broad white
rim around them. Then another god was
brought, and hoisted up in the same way,
but to lower division, and so on till al
were full. The crowd meanwhile kept
throwing garlands and donations to the
Brahmins-dirty, common looking men,
with nothing whatever to distinguish
them from the common mass except the
white Brahminical thread over the shoul-
ders. When the gods were all in their
places, two large wooden horses were
brought out, one blue, the other white,
each with thick tail sticking up at an
angle Of ninety degrees. These gay steed.
were fastened to the car, and q Brahmir
stood upon the back Of each, holding by
a rope.
"At this time the scene was extraordi
nary. Close by the side of the car was
large native house, broken and crumbline
like most native houses. Through iron
bars in front of this house some women
were peering. and on the roof there were
more women OF the zcuana, with an old
crone keeping watch and guardover them.
On the other side of the road was Jug
gcrnaut temple, crowded with women. -
The road itself was quite impossible for
the crowds of people, whose oily bodies
and dirty ways did not improve the flavor
of the heated atmosphere. Far as the eye
could reach this throng extended, and
when thousand gongS were set beating
and the Brahmins called upon the people,
a thrill Of wild excitement ran through
this enormous living mass. The ropes
we're fixed, and multtudes rushed over
them, eager for the honor of pulling their
deity along.
"On the car itself there could scarcely
have been less than two hundred men,
Perhaps there were one thousand pulling
at the ropes, but they pulled for a long
time in vain. The car had been in one
place for a whole year, and had made a
deep hole for itself by its great weight
Again and again the Brahmins shouted
and gesticulaIed, laughing among them.
selves.
"At last the mob happened to pull to-
gether instead of one after the other, and
the huge mass moved forward few yards,
groaning as il it had been living crea-
ture. 1t stopped, and for q few minutes
the crowd stood in almost perfect silence.
Then the Brahmins gave the signal, and
this tine it crushed out q life with every
revolution of its hideous wheels, covered
as they were with human flesh and gore.
The vast multitude seemed suddenly pos
sessed with fit of delirium. They fought
and struggled with each other to get near
the car, which had stopped as If by magic
They stopped down and peered beneath
its wheels, and rose with scared faces to
tell their friends of the sight. made my
way to the back of the car, and there saw
upon the ground a very old woman, all
wrinkled and puckered up, with scarcely
lineament of her face recognizable for
blood and dust. Her right foot was hang
ing by thread, the wheels had passed
over the centre of her nearly naked body,
and faint quivcr of anguish ran through