Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-04-15
The LAND OF FAK|RS
Something About . Great
Profession in India.
DUTIES OF A oHELA
PROFOUND SCHOLARS AND AC-
ooMPLIsHED LINaUIsTs.
Wonderful Tricks Of Conjurors-Ex-
planned on the Hypothesis Of
Hypnotism-C ontortionists.
DUTIES oP A oHELA
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald

| Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.
BENARES, March IA. 1904.
The two most interesting classes among
the many kinds Of priests, monks and 9TH
er people who make religion a profession
In India are the falkirs and nautch girls,
| both Of whom are supposed to devote their
lives and their talents to the service of the
gods. There are several kinds Of fakirs or
religious mendicants In India, about 5000
in number, most Of them being nomads
wandering from city to city and temple to
| temple. dependent entirely upon the char
ity Of the faithful. They reward those
who serve them with various forms of
blessings; give them advice concerning all
the affairs Of life, from the planting of
| their crops to the training Of their chill
dren. They claim supernatural powers to
confer good and invoke evil, and the curse
of fakir Is the last misfortune that an
honest Hindu cares to bring upon himself,
for it means a failure of his harvests, the
death of his cattle by disease, sickness in
his family and bad luck in everything that
he undertakes. Hence these holy men. who
are the familiars of the gods and are be-
lteved to spend most Of their time commu-
nicating with them in some mysterious
way about the affairs Of the world, are
| able to command anything the people have
to give, and nobody would willingly cross
their shadows or incur their displeasure
These religious mendicants go almost
naked. usually with nothing but the small
est possible breech clout around their
loins, which the police require them to
wear; they plaster their bodies with mud,
ashes and filth; they rub clay, gum and
other substances into their hair to give it
an uncouth appearance. Sometimes they
wear it in long braids hanging down their
backs like the cue OF Ch1naman; some
| times in short braids, sticking out in every
direction like the wool Of the pickaninn1es
down south. Some of them have strings of
/, beads around their necks, others coils OF
rope around them. They never wear hats,
and usually carry nothing but small
brass bowl, in imitation Of Buddha, which
is the only property they possess on earth.
They are usually accompanied by youth
full disciple called "chela," a boy of from
ten to fifteen years Of age who Will be-
come a fakir himself unless something oc-
ours to change his career
| Many Of the fakfrs endeaVor 10 MAKE
themselves look as hideous as possible.
They sometimes whitewash their faces nke
clowns in crcuses; paint lines upon their
cheeks and draw marks under their eyes 10
give them an inhuman appearance. AT
certain sees sons of the year they may clothe
themselves In filthy rags for the time being
as an evidence Of humility. Most OF them
and very hin nd 8 of flesh which IS
due to their long pilgrimages and insult
ficient nourishment. They sleep wherever
they happen to be They lie down On the
roadside or beneath column OF temple
or under cart, or in stable sometimes
kindly disposed reople give them beds nut
they have no regular habits; they sleep
when they are sleepy, rest when they are
tired and continue their wanderings when
they are refreshed.
Duties of the Chela.
About the time the people of the COM
munity are breakfasting in the morning the
chela starts out with the brass bowl and
begs from house to house until the bowl is
filled with food, when he returns to where
ever his ma ster is waiting for him and they
share it's contents between them. Again at
noon and again at night the chela goes out
on similar foraging expeditions and con-
ducts the commissary department in that
way The fakir himself never begs; the
gods he worships are expected to take care
of him. and if they do not send him food ne
goes without it. 1t Is a popular deluslon
also that fakirs will not ac1ept aims from
anyone for any purpose, but have consld-
cradle personal experience to the contrary.
1 have offered money to hundreds of them
and have never yet had it refused. A faklr
will snatch penny as eagerly as any peg
gar YOU ever saw, and If the coin you offer
Is smaller than he expects or desires ne Will
show his disapproval in an unmlstakable
manner.
religious tramps worthless useless inn
postors living upon the fears and Superstl-
lions of the people and doing more harm
than good. Others are without DOUBT earnest
and sincere ascetics who believe that they
are promoting the welfare and happiness OF
their fellow men by depriving themselves
of everything that is necessary to happiness.
purifying their souls by privatlon ana hard,
ship and obtaining spiritual inspiration and
light by continuous meditations and prayer
Many of these are fanatics some are cpl
/ leptics. some are insane Ihey undergo
self-torture of the most horrible kinds ana
frequently prove their sincerity by causing
themselves to be buried alive, by starving to
death, or by posing themselves In unnatural
attitudes with their faces or their arms
raised to heaven until the sinews and mus
cIes are benumbed or paralyzed and they
fall unconscious from exhaus tion. These
are tests of purity and piety- Zealots ire
ouently enter temp'es 10 perforrn such
feats for the admiration of pilgrims and by
ISLANDERS.
Many are clairvoyants and have thepower
of second sight. They hypnotic subjects
and go into frances themselves, In Which
condition the soul Is supposed to leave the
body and visit the gods Some of the meta
physical phenomena are remarkable anu
even startling. They cannot be explained;
You have doubtless read Of the wonderful
fakir, Ram Lal, who appears in Marion
Crawfords story of Mr. Isaacs," and there
Is good deal concerning this class OF peo-
pie in Rudyard Kipling's kim" Those
two. by the way, are universally considered
the best stories of Indian life ever written.
Profound Scholars.
Among Inc QlBHeT GLASS VI AdhiiS Oh
many extraordinary men, profound scholars,
accomplished linguists and others whose
knowledge of both the natural and the oc-
cult sciences is amazing. 1 was told by one
of the highest officials of the Indian en-
pire of an extraordinary feat performed by
one of these fakirs, who in some mysterious
way transferred himself several hundred
miles In a single night over country where
there We're no railroads and never took the
trouble to explain how his journey was ac-
complished.
The best conjurors, magicians and palm
lists in India are fakirs. Many of them tell
fortunes from the lines of the hand ana
from other signs with extraordinary ac-
curacy. Old residents who have come in
contact with this class relate astounding
tales. Only few days ago young lady
at our hotel was incidentally informed by a
fortune-telling fakir she met accidentally in
Brahmin temple that she would soon re-
ceive news that would change all her plans
and alter the course of her life, and the
next morning she received cablegram
from England announcing the death of her
father If you get the old resident started
on such stories he will keep telling them
all night.
Some Wonderful Tricks.
OF course you have read of the incredible
80 ;,,,xosesbJa faatc rarforuaad nv Hindu