The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1894-12-22

iteps lead you to images Of horrible
Usage. and the flowers put upon the
lltar have their fragrance submerged
~ that which is the opposite Of arg
Il
After you have seen the CHATS, the
great things In Benares that you
must see are the Golden and Monkey
About the vast Golden temple
here is not as much gold as would
make an English sovereign. The air
Itself is asphyxiated. Here we see men
making gods out of mud and then put
ting their hands together in worship of
that which themselves have made.
Sacred cows walk up and down the
Here stood q fakir with right
arm uplifted, and for SO long a time
that he could not take it down, and the
nails Of the hand had grown until they
looked like serpents winding in and
around the palm.
The god of the Golden temple is silva,
or the poison god. Devils wait upon
him. He is the god of war, of famine,
of pestilence. He is the destroyer. He
has AROUND his neck q string of skulls.
Before him bow men whose hair never
knew a comb. They eat carrion and
that which is worse. Bells and drums
here set up q racket. Pilgrims come
from hundreds of miles away, spend
ing their last piece of money and ex-
hausting their last item Of strength in
order to reach this Golden temple, glad
TO die in or near II, and have the ashes
of their bodies thrown into the Gauges.
We took q carriage and VENT still
further on to see the Monkey temple,
so-called because in and around h
buildings monkeys abound and are
kept as sacred. AL evolutionists
should visit this temple devoted to the
family from which their ancestors
came. These monkeys chatter, and
wink, and climb. and look wise, and
look silly, and have full possession Of
the place. We were asked at the en-
trance of the Monkey temple to take
OF our shoes because of the ~sacredness
Of the place, but . small contribution
placed in the hands Of an attendant
resulted in q permission TO enter with
our shoes on. As the Golden
temple is dedicated to silva, the
poison god, this Monkey temple
u dedicated to Siva's wife, q deitess,
that must be propitiated, or she will
disease, and blast, and destroy. For
centuries this spitfre has been wor-
SHIPPED. She Is the goddess of scold, and
and slap, and t~ermsgsncy. She Is sup
posed to be = supernatural Xantippe;
hence to her are brought flowers and
rice, and here and there the flowers
are spattered with blood of goats slain
In sacrifice.
As we walk to-day through this
Monkey temple we must not hit, or
tease, or hurt one Of them. Two Eng
lishmen years ago lost their lives by
the maltreatment Of . monkey. Pass
ing along ON one Of these Indian
streets . monkey did not soo enough
get out Of the way, and one Of these
Englishmen struck It with his cane.
Immediately the people and the
priests gathered around these
strangers, and the public wrath
increased until the two Englishmeu
were pounded to death for having
struck . monkey. No land in all the
world % reveres the monkey IS India,
a. no other land has . temple called
after It Ono Of the rsjahs Of India
spent one hundred thousand rupees in
the marriage Of two monkeys. A
nuptial~ procession was formed In which
moved camsls, elephants. tigers. cattle
and p~alsnquins Of richly dressed peo-
Pile. Bands Of music sounded the we'd
ding march. Dancing parties kept the
night sleepless. It was twelve days
before the monkey and the monkeyssa
were free from their round Of gay At
tentions. In NO place but India could
such . carnival have occurred. But,
after all, while We cannot approve OF
the Monkey temple, the monkey IL
sscrsd to hilarity. defy any one to
watch . monkey one minute without
laughter. Why was this creature msde3
For the worlds amusement. The mis-
sion Of some animals is left doubtful
and we cannot see the use Of this
or that qusdruped or this or
that insect, but the mission of
the ape Is certain; all around
the world It entertains. Whether
seated at the top Of this temple in
India. or cutting up its antics on the
Vop OK mana orHaa. " stsFs tue sense
OF the iuaicrous' tickics the diaphragm
INTO examination; topples gravity int
play, n sccompiisnes tina Tor which
y wa treated Inc eseie, ana the
more certainly have their mission than
mas the MONKEY. BUT u implies low
form of Hlndooism when this embodied
mimicry OF the NINA 1ce " lifted
into worship. In one OF the cities Tor
q nrst tims N my NE ! 2 an oP-
portunity OF talking with . fakir, or 9
atndoo who renounced n world
snd lives ON Alma he sat under Q
rough covering on . platform OF brick.
He was covered with b sshes OF the
dead, and wa 1t the time ruhhiug
more OF those ashes upon his arms and
legs He understood and spoke Eng
lish. said to him: How long have
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