The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1876-01-03
JUGGERNAUT'S DECLINE.
The G treat Hindoo Temple Tamblins
TO Pieces.

India Correspondence LONDON hines.
An event of some importance has re.
Gently occurred in connection with the
Temple of Juggernaut. 1t has already
excited considerable interest in Orissa and
Bengal and will be before long the sub
iect of conversation IT. every town and
village IN Northern and Western India.
Throughout the whole Of the Empire
there is no shrine so sacred as Poree,
and no spot where devout Hindoo
would rather die than beneath the
shadow of this great fame. What
Palestine and its temple were
to the Jew, Orissa and its temple are to
the Hindoo. The native of Northern In
dia especially feels that until he has taken
the pilgrimage the one great act OF life
has yet to be performed, and when he re-
turns home and tells how he has bathed
in the sacred water, ate ofthe sacred food
sat beneath the shadow of the tree, he Is
looked upon as different being. The
temple, which cost half million sterling
of the money of our times. is literally
black with age. The storms ofnearly seven
centuries, which are often 80 violent In
the Bay of Bengal, have produced little
immersion upon it, and until few weeks
ago i. seemed as likely to remain as many
centuries more. Msny::of the large tenn
pies in the province are now in ruins, but
thew have not fallen through the wear
and tear of time. A silent but etfectual
mower has been the cause of this des-
truction. The seeds of the peepul and
banysn trees have got into the founda-
| tions. These have taken root the sap
ling has forced its way through the IFS.
surcs of the stones, and in process OF
wears the whole fabric has been .oosene1,
and eventually brought down, and it
seems probable that the Temple Of jug
gernaut 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 interior roof fell on the
platform. Had they fallen few minutes
earlier the idols would have been shat
tered to atoms, 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 b. a
very difficult task, rs the temple is
so dark. There are no apertures for
the light. Five or six lights are
kept burning in the daytime, and, even
with these, nothing is visible but the
idols. Plans have been prepared and an
estimate made of the cost. rs but very
rarely that temples are repaired, and the
sound of the chisel and the hammer on
the top of this great temple will do more
to weaken The faith of the Hindoo in Jug
gernaut than any thing that has occurred
in the present ger Grafton. 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 G6SOOO. The ques-
ton which is agitating all priests Is, what
is to he done with the idols while the re-
pairs are being nader The officers of
The temple are most 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
wor.hippers; but there would be SO much
danger. should there be another fall OF
stones, that the Rsiah will not consent