The Press., 1894-07-26
INDIA'S SACRED MONKEY TEMPLE.

An Edifice Where Long Tailed Ouadrupeds
 Live Free From Interference.
 Among the thousand or more temples and shrines with which the holy Hindoo city of Benares is endowed, visitors gen orally find the great temple dedicated to the worship of the goddess Durga one of the most interesting. It is known to Europeans as the monkey temple, be- cause in and around it's precincts many hundreds of sacred monkeys roam about without interference. The temple is sit uated in the southern extremity of the city. It was erected during the last cen tury by the Rance Bhawani of Natre, in honor of Siva's wife, the terrific god dess who is supposed to delight in death and slaughter, and of whom the poor be- lievers in the various attributes of the deities comprising the Hindoo pantheon stand in the greatest dread. A core spondent of the London Graphic writes as follows regarding the place:
 'The Durga Kund is conspicuous in this city of temples for the grace and simplicity of it's architecture. It adjoins tank which is the finest in Benares and occupies the central portion of a quadrangle, the walls being stained red with ocher. The sacred portion of the temple consists of 12 finely carved pill lars standing on a marble platform and supporting heavy roof. The platform is about four feet from the ground and is ascended by flight of low steps on | each side of the square. The temple is we'll provided with the necessary instru- ments for creating the frightful noises which emanate from these abodes of idolatry all over India. Drums of huge dimensions, gongs, bells and tomtoms are all at the service of the priests in performing the rites required of them. But the antics of the monkeys which make this temple their home are, next to it's architecture, the most attractive feature of the place. ....
 "The goats blood with which the walls are sprinkled and the sacrifices that are known to take place here to appease the wrath of Siva and his terrifying spouse are rather revolting to Christian, but the grotesque play of the monkeys, their importunate begging, the pranks they enact -vaa-<na another and the graceful agility they are consJantiy liaplaving l supply a perpetual source of amusement which one is apt to think must prove rather distracting to the devout Hindoos who come here to worship. These sa- cred monkeys are of the genus Semno- pethecus entellus, popularly known as the long tailed Indian monkey.
 "A few years ago, as no one dared tc molest these animals, they not only in. creased rapidly in numbers, but, grow. ing to be extraordinarily bold, developed alarming thieving propensities. The annoyance they caused amounted to g | public nuisance, for no house in the place was safe from their depredations At last the trouble grew so serious tha1 some reduction in the number of these adept thieves became q necessity, al though the prejudices of the people were against any such steps being taken. IT the end the government was requested to interfere, and waiving aside all othel considerations but that of public polit, the authorities had many hundreds re port says many thousands-capturet and sent away. Nevertheless there ar
 plenty of them left, and they certainl. constitute one of the sights of g cit. that is probably in many respects tn most interesting in the world