Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-12-22
JUGGERNAUT.
The Great HindoO Temple Tumbling TO
Pieces.


The Great Hfndoo Temple Tumbling TO
Pieces.
India Correspondence London Times.
An event of some Importance has re-
Gently occurred in connection with the
Temple of Juggernaut; it has already
excited considerable interest in Orrissa
and Bengal, and will be before long the
subject of conversation in every town
and village in Northern and Western
India. Throughout the whole of
the Empire there is no shrine SO
sacred as Pooree, and no spot where
devout Hindoo would rather die
than beneath the shadow of this great
fame. What Palestine and it's Temple
were to the Jew, Orrissa and it's Temple
are to a Hindoo. The native of North
ern India especially feels that, until he
has taken the pilgrimage, the one great
act of life has yet to be performed, and
when he <eturns home, and tells how he
bathed in the sacred water, ate of the
sacred food, sat beneath the shadow of
the tree he is looked upon as different
being. The temple, which cost half a
million sterling of the money of our
time, is literally black with age. The
storms of nearly seven centuries, which
are often SO violent in the Bay of Ben gal
have produced little impression upon
it, and until a few weeks ago it seemed
as likely to remain rs many centuries
more. Many of the large temples in
the Province are now in ruins, but they
have not fallen through the wear and
tear of time. A silent but effectual
power has been the cause of this de-
struction. The seeds of the peepul and
and banyan trees have got into the
foundations. These have taken root;
the sapling has forced it way through
the assures of the stones, and in process
of years the whole fabric has been
loosened, and eventually brought down,
and it seems probable that the Temple
of Juggernaut will share the same fate.
At the late car festivals, as soon
as the IDOLS had been taken from
their thrones for their annual excursion,
several large stones from the inner roof
fell on the platform. Had they fallen a
few minutes earlier the idols would have
been shattered to pieces, and in all
probability there would have been great
loss of life. The resident Magistrate
applied to the Governor for an engineer
to inspect the damage. This was
found to be very difficult task, as the
temple is so dark. There are no aper-
lures for the light; five OF six lights are
kept burning in the day time, and, even
with these, nothing is visible but the
idols. Plans have been prepared and
an estimate has been prepared of the cost.
It is very rarely that temples are
repaired; and the sound of the
the cnisel and the hammer on the
top of this great temple will do
more to weaken the faith of the Hindoo
in Juggernaut than anything that has
occurred in the present generation.
There will be no lack of money for any
estimate, as the priests are very wealthy
and the annual income of the temple is
said to amount to e68,00O. The ques-
ton which is agitating all priests is,
what is to be done with the idols while
the repairs are being made? The Off
GERS of the temple are more anxious to
have the idols restored to their thrones.
They propose that an inner ceiling of
wood shall be made to protect the idols
and the worshirpers; but there would
be SO much danger, should there be
another fall of stones, that the Raj ali
will not consent.