The Press. (Stafford Springs, Conn.) 1883-1935, 1905-08-30


nowhere else are there 30 many OF
them as in Benares, and nowhere else
are they held In SO much reverence and
allowed SO much license.
Anglo-Indians are often contemptu-
GUS of natives and native superstitions,
but no Anglo-Indlan would care to
strike q sacred bull In Benares. kim
| did IL In Lahore. In Benares It would
be exceedingly unwise even to swear
at the holy beast In the presence Of
natives who might understand the
oaths.
1.-The bulls are especially sacred"
wrote Professor James Ricalton in a
letter to the author Of this article, aft
er he had just returned from tour Of
India, In which he secured some ex-
tremely interesting photographs Of va
rious sacred animals. '"They line the
sidewalks Of the city, enter sweetmeat
and grocery stores and help themselves
to the choicest articles without hin
drance They enjoy the freedom Of
every city. II bullock chooses to lie
down In a narrow lane where he fills
the entire space, no pious Hindoo VIII
pass that way while the sacred beast
Is taking his rest.
1.-THE indulgence extended to these
zebu bovines Is wonderful. They enter
the most sacred precincts Of the tenn
Piles. They are so pampered with
aainties and luxuries that they become
burdened with fat"
Although the Brahmanee bull Is the
most sacred animal In India, he has
many competitors. There are more
gods than worshlpers In India. Beast
worship seems to be natural to the
Hindoo, and 1t Is certainly one of the
foundation stones of Brahmanism. Fol
lowers of the purer forms Of that faith
may say that the sacred beasts are
only symbols and not gods, but a re-
ligion must be judged by the effect
which 1t has on the mass of its
devotees. The monkey, the crocodile,
the crane, the Ibis, the cobra and other
serpents are among the creatures that
share with the bull the reverence Of the
people, IL not their worship. Benares
Is the headquarters Of all the numer-
GUS cults OF BrahmanIsm that especial
ly worship one or other Of these sacred
beasts.
One of the holiest places In Benares
Is the DOorga Khond, or monkey tenn
pie. The monkey comes next to the
Ordinance bull In order Of sanctity.
An English resident In the city assured
the writer that anybody who killed or
even Ill treated monkey would run q
very good chance Of being torn to
pieces by the fanatical natives. That
Is not generally true of India, for !
have seen monkeys killed there with
out any trouble resulting. but believe
1t Is true of Benares.
At the Doorga Khond hundreds Of
monkeys are kept as pets by the
priests. They run about all over the
place just as they please and are never
Gagged or restrained in any way. AS a
consequence they are jolly, good tenn
pered little fellows, quite unlike the
savage, Bulky brutes you see In an
American zoo. 1t is q mistake to sup
pose that q monkeys nature Is essen
TALLY vicious.
The temple is simply a large paved
yard surrounded by high walls on
and houses in which the monkeys live.
There Is big tank for the monkeys to
drink from and swim In, IL they choose
to do so, and huge banyan tree gives
them all the gymnastic exercise they
want. Visitors are welcomed, but they
are expected to buy food for the mon
keys from the priests at an exorbitant
price. AS soon as they get inside the
monkeys mob them, climbing all over
them, snatching the food from their
hands and then scampering of to eat
1t in the banyan tree.
These monkeys and all Of their kind
the grayish brown, short tailed common
monkey Of northern India-are sup
posed to be the descendants Of Hunu-
man, the monkey god of southern In
dia. According to the myth of the
Brahmans, Hunuman aided Rama to
conquer Ceylon by building bridge Of
rocks from India to that island. His
image is to be seen in most Hindoo
temples in the form Of a man with a
black monkeys face and tail.
Sacred monkeys scamper along the
streets and over the housetops In most
indian cities and villages. The shop
keepers are constantly worried by their
foraging escapades, but they dare not
resent them any more than those Of the
sacred bull. These monkeys are often
the companions Of the hermits and
fakirs with which India swarms, and
they are the chief part Of the congre-
cation In many temples where they are
fed and protected.
Tanks In which sacred crocodiles are
kept are attached to some temples in
Benares. In former days they were fed
with children and other human sacri-
fees, but the British government
though very indulgent toward native
superstttions, will, Of course, not allow
that now. Some Anglo Indians assert,
however, that such sacrifices are still
made on the sly. Whether this is true
or not, 1t is fact that many fanatical
Hindoos would not kill a crocodile
which had killed their wife or child.
So. Some Hindoos are unspeakably cruel
to animals that are not sacred, but In
general the faiths of India enjoin kind
ness to dumb animals as religious
duty. Buddhism does so most en-
phatically, for the whole tendency Of
Its teaching, rightly given, Is to make
man gentle and mild. The Parsees
are noted for their kindliness to all
creatures, man and beast, and they
give largely out Of their boundless
wealth to the support OF the Jain tenn
pies. which are perhaps the most de-
nghtful places In all India. .....
All the best elements In Brahmanism
flock to the Jain cult as the needle
flies to the magnet. The jams recog-
nlze all the gods Of the Hindoo creed.
wear the Brahmanical thread and ad-
here to Hindoo caste law. Yet they
are utterly unlike the average Brah-
man. They have agreed to ignore all
that is vile In Brahmanism and to de-
vote themselves to all that is noble