Bismarck weekly tribune., 1888-11-30
BELLS, FLAGS AND BEooARe.
Characteristic Features Of tho Burmese
Temples-Ghastl Humanity. s|

Characteristic Features Of tho Burmese
Temples-Ghastly Humanity.
But however different may be the individ-
ual details Of the great Burmese temples,
there are three characteristic features which
are never wanting to any Of them, viz. bells,
flags and beggars. The flags in particular
are quite speciality, for as the commonest
form Of Offering in Burmah is q piece of sill
yer paper or strip Of colored cloth, every
shrine Is perfect rag fair Of duttering
shreds OF red, green, blue and white, fastened
to long slender saplings or to the ratings Of
the shrine itself. As q matter Of course,
these impromptu pennons become dirti@ and
dirtier as time goes on, till at length the neu-
tral tint fairly masters the original color.
The bells-which are usually about half
the height Of an ordinary man, and bear an
inscription setting forth their weight, the
date Of their casting, and the name Of the
person who presented them to the temple
are suspended few feet above the ground,
between two upright posts, along the sides Of
the paved platform already described. Be-
side each lies stout club or the horn Of an
elk, which, when struck with force upon the
edge or side Of the bell, draws forth volume
Of sound that fully explains the name Of
"Maha Gunga great sweet voice., given to
their largest bell by the people of Burmah.
This sort of bell ringing is the invariable pre-
lude to the recital of a prayer by any devout
Burman, and serves-according to Burmese
ideas at least-as kind of telephone signal
to apprise the Mats guardian spirits whom
he addresses that he is going to begin, and
wishes them to pay attention to his words.
Unlike the majority Of devotees, who resent
fiercely the intervention of any unbeliever
in their worship. these orthodox Buddhists
are, as rule, rather pleased than otherwise
should passing European happen to strike
bell while they are at their prayers, argu-
ing, with some show Of reason, that the
greater the noise produced, the more likely
are the spirits to be on the lookout.
As for the beggars, any one who has
walked round the Mosque of Omar at Jeru-
salem or the Shir- -Dar at Samarcand, may
multiply his worst experiences by fifty, and
fall short even then Of the horrible phan-
tasmagoria Of human squalor and human
misery that rises ghostlike amid all the bar
baric nnagnificence Of great Burmese
pagoda. The pool of Bethesda itself never
mustered amid its chastity host of ''maimed,
halt and blind" such loathsome detormities
as those which startle the eye here at every
turn. Dwarfish, shapeless figures, bent and
twisted out Of all semblance of humanity;
swollen, eyeless visages, black and foul with
frightful sores, upon which the venomous
tropical flies settle down in clouds; lepers in
the last and worst stage Of their awful dis
ease, white, spectral, bideous, whining with
lipless mouths for charity, and stretching
out fngerless hands to receive it, Had
Michael Angelo ever been in Rangoon or
Prone or Mandalay, he might have saved
himself the trouble of seeking the inspiration
of the plague hospitals for the multiplied
horrors of his dreadful masterpiece. David
Ker in New York Times.