Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1900-03-16
TRICHINOPOLY.
Peculiar Geological Creations in South.
ern Indii.
Strange Customs In misunderstanding
MuItItudes Refuse TO Eat Rice I'm
tIIIrh by Their Own ReIIevers.

and heat, little of the attractions OF Madura
are repeated here excepting the prevalent
beliefs among the natives concerning their
NEUROLOGICAL religion, which gives to all
the temples a similar tone and distinct
style. Near the outskirts of this city of
mud and sun-baked brick houses is one OF
several peculiar geological creations in the
form Of bare rock of gneiss rising to a
height of over 600 feet above the sea and
about 400 above the level of the surround
ing flat country. Close to the precipitous
sides of this mass of solid rock and even
attached to its sides by clever ideas of ma
sonrv, the natives have built their huts and
one street, completely surrounding the
rock, boasts of a population of over 1000
souls Through portals of Hindu model
ling and up hundreds of broad granite
steps, covered overhead and up the sides
by immense granite slabs, the climb, with
many landings and intermediate shrines
and rrvate temples soon repays you by
offering a view of the surrounding coun-
try and the city below, teeming with half
naked black men. The top of the rock,
reached by an additional flight of steps cut
out of the rock itself, mounts temple to
the God silva, where all his followers come
to pray and make offerings.
On one occasion a few decades ago an
annual festival was celebrated on this rock
and to avoid a probable accident to the
multitudes who would descend together, the
priest ordered them to 20 down before p. NJ.
when the covered passage began to grow
dark. In spite of this precaution, someone
stumbled and fell and over him were hurled
ZOO of the devotees who were crushed and
suffocated in the dark. Here in TRICKY is
a stone bath in which the renowned Bishop
Heber went to take bath and was later
found drowned I've heard of people dying
| dancing, but seldom Of man drowning in
bath-tub; however, it's so, and 10 me a
pleasant death in this climate.
Across the sacred river which skirts the
city with its broad sandy bed and little
stream, dotted throughout its course with
bathers and clothes washes, is one of India S
most famous and wonderful temples Of
Hindu design in honor of the God silva and
Nishnu. This temple is peculiar in itself
and of its kind, since it is surrounded by
seven great walls of solid granite blocks
following in their lines the four cardinal
points of the compass, and entered from
each of the four sides by immense granite
gateways called "goporas, completely COW
cred with carved figures of the God and
his imagined habits weird and ridiculous in
nonsense and uniqueness. The outer wall,
about 30 feet high, it four miles in circum-
ference and between this and the next wall
is broad street inhabited by the followers
of the caste to the number of IS, 600.
Entering the second gateway, surmount-
| ed by another one of those magnificent
towering 'goporas' of equally wonderful
dimensions and elaborate sculpturing is an
other inhabited street of the same or a
friendly companionable caste, either
Vishnu, Brahmin or silva caste The life is
| quite the same and all seem to take especial
pride in the honored place of abode, being
expressive of the same by bedaubing their
| forehead and bodies with colored paint in
characteristic markings of the especial
caste. Peculiar to the temple is this privi-
lege to inhabit its precincts, and accordingly
it is called Temple Town" where none
but the upper classes of the castles can re-
side, the lower classes being forced to con
tent themselves with visits.
AS the seven gates and walls are passed
and the sacred shrines and affairs to the
| Gods are neared the tinkle of the swing
ing bells of the unacceptable sacred temple
elephants signal the approach of two or
three monstrous beasts, who come TO give
| the visitor their trained salaam and suck up
a few annas lone anna equals two cents) in
their trunk for their keepers One of
these huge beasts was about 40 years old
and measured 10 feet to the top of his back.
| Not alone do these elephants enjoy the cool
| granite pillared halls of the temples, for
many an underfed COW must share his
grass income to furni-h the stone hearted
idols with a daily Offering of milk, while
the devotees crawl half starved to the
shrine to add few morses of rice TO the
offering.
With this exception naught but few
squeaking bats find permanent harboring
within the temple halls, and the foul odor
from the ever burning oil lamps, lighting
the various Gods and their retinue, before
which all must PROSTATE themselves and
pray, make the hospitality of the spacious
halls undesirable to all other beings and
creatures.
From Trichinopoly ! took the night train
TO Madras, This means, as it will through
out India, that compartment holds but
four persons and carrying your own pillow
and blanket you can reserve the whole
compartment if you pay for four tickets
In little section adjoining is the servant s
room and these you can take with you bv
paying a mere nominal sum, usually
four or five rupees. They keep your shoes
busted, your helmet chalked, brush your
clothes, get your ice, and cause you more
bother than their salary of l-2 rupees a
day is worth to them. Worst of ali, they
wake you at $3.50 for tea and toast, a meal
called "chota," and that must keep Won
until breakfast, which is served at II
Tiffen Qunch) comes at 2, another round of
tea at D, and dinner at 3 p M keeping
you constantly a slave to cheap treats, and
the combination of all wouldn't constitute
a fair meal
As l started to say Madras is Pekiu
Tor distances and its sections, as has
been justly said, seem to have fallen from
the skies and scattered near the earth. for
from one end to the other hours are reauir-
ed to make the trip, and between every
road veritable sand storm from the in.
tervening spaces welcomes one. In fact.
the broad smooth road (English) along the
sea front is the only redeeming feature OF
the city with few remarkably fine stone
buildings, and of specific attraction to the
visitor the museum alone deserves mention.
Unlike the humble Javanese, who dror
a burden and crawl on all fours as they pas.
a foreigner, the Indians, seeking favor from
an European, salaam and address you a,
"Raja" or Your honor" Men of 40marry
girls OF five years and, since after formal
or informal union the girl must 90 HON,
and stay until she arrives at the age of 10
when she can legally live with her husband
she then finds him either decrepit or dead
This immoral effect causes widows anC
prostitution to abound and the position OF
the woman is accordingly held very low
A woman to be considered beautiful mus
wear earrings the size of dollars and t