The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1878-06-25
JUGGERNACT P1LGRIMAGES I,
ORISSA.

"A. H. Guernsey, in Harpers Magazine for JULY
Mr.. Hunter gives a vivid picture of these
pilgrimages. Day and night, through
. every month Of the year. troops of devotees
arrive at Purl and for three hundred miles
along the great Orissa road every village
has its cncampment. At the time of the
great festivals the bands follow so closely
that they form continuous procession
miles upon miles in length. They march in
orderly companies. each under its leader
or guide, These guides may properly be
called the missionaries of Jagannath.
About six thousand of them are attached to
the temple from which they take their
| departure for every section of the country.
The arrival Of one of these pilgrim-hunt-
crs is a memorable event in the still life
of Hindoo village. He is known
by his halfshaven head, coarse tunic, KNAPP
sack and palm-leaf umbrella. He waits
patiently chewing his narcotic leaf, until
the men have gone into the field, and then
makes round of visits among the women.
He works alike upon their hopes and fears,
their picty and their folly. The older ones
long 10 look upon the face of the mercful
god who will remit the sins of life. The
younger ones are alured by the prospect of
a journey through strange lands. Widows
catch at anything to relieve the tedium of
their blighted existence; childess wives
long to pick up the berries from the child.
giving banyan which grows in the sacred
Enclosure. In a few days the missionary
has picked up band of pilgrims. Fully
nine out of ten are women, and when the
bands come together on the great Orissa
road they present a motley spectacle.
Here are n company OF whitc-cothed,
slender women from Lower Bengal, limping
YEARLY along. Next a train clad in bright
red or blue, with noses pierced with rings,
trudges stoutly forward; they are the
rugged peasantry of Northern India. Now
and then is n lady from near Delhi, amblng
along upon Il little pony, while her hus-
band walks by her side. A bullock cart
creeks past upon its wooden wheels. A
long train of paanquins conveys a Calcut-
IA banker and hi, family. Sometimes
there is Il great north country rajah, WITH a
whole caravan OF elephants, camcls and
horses. But ninel five out of a hundred Of
the pilgrims are on foot, Mingled with all
are deyotccs Of every sort. some covered with
ashes, some nearly naked with matted hair
stained yellow. Almost all have their fore
heads stfcakcd with red and white paint,
string Of beads around their necks, and
stout staff in their hands.
So this great spiritual army marches
hundreds of miles along burning roads,
across Unabridged rivers, through pcstlcnt
iungles and swamps. Many perish by the
way; all are weary and foot-sorc. But no
sooner are they within sight of the holy
city thaAall the miscries of the journey are
forgotten. They hurry across the ancient
bridge with shouts and songs, and rush to
one of the great artificial lakes and plunge
beneath the sacred waters, The dirty bun
dies which they have carried all the long
way are opened, and yield forth their treas
urcs of spotless cotton, and the pilgrims,
refreshed and clearly clad proceed to the
temple to partake of the sacred rice which
has been cooked within its walls--that sa-
cred rice for which the Lord Of the whole
world longcd in his old jungle home, and of
which he now partakes four times a day in
his temple.