The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1905-08-11
dainties and luxuries that they become
burdened with fat"

gods than worshipers in India. Beas
worship seems to be natural TO tn,
Hindoo, and II Is certainly one Of th,
foundation stones OF Brahmanism. Fol
lowers Of the purer forms Of that faiti
may say that the sacred beasts arr
only symbols and not gods, but a re
ligion must be Judged by the effec
which 1t has on the mass Of lis
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, II 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
Brahmanee bull In order OF sanctity.
An English resident I'm the city assured
the writer that anybody who killed or
even Ill treated monkey would run a
very good chance Of being torn to
pieces by the fanatical natives. That
IL not generally true Of India, for /
have seen monkeys killed there with
out any trouble resulting, but believe
II 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, sulky brutes you see In an
American zoo. 1t IL q mistake to sup
pose that monkeys nature Is essen
TALLY vicious.
The temple Is simply large paved
yard surrounded by high walls on
which there are lot Of wooden boxes
and houses In which the monkeys live.
There Is big tank for the monkeys to
drink from and swim In, If they choose
to do SO, and a huge banyan tree gives
them all the gymnastlc 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 oil over
them. snatching the food from their
hands and then scampering off to eat
IL I'm 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
dla. 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 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 hermlts and
fakirs with which India swarms, and
they are the chief part Of the congre-
cation I'm many temples where they are
fed and protected.
Tanks in which sacred crocodiles are
kept are attached to some temples I'm
Benares. In former days they were fed
with children and other human sacri-
fees, but the British government.
though very indulgent toward native
superstitions, 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, it Is fact that many fanatlcal
Hindoos would not kill crocodile
which had killed their wife or child.
Some Hindoos are unspeakably cruel
to animals that are not sacred, but In
general the faiths Of India enjoln 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
NtdltH w tuc SupIoIl VI thc JAIN ltlu-
pies, which are perhaps the most de-
lightful places In all India.
All the best elements In Brahmanlsm
flock to the Jain cult rs the needle
flies to the magnet. The jams recog-
nize 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.
They reverence the sacred animals,
but they give to the worship prac-
tical twist by adoring all animals, all
living creatures, and by making veter-
mary surgery at once their vocation
and their religion.
Every Jain temple Is n hospital for
the lame. the blind, the sick and the
maltreated among animals. The priests
90 around the streets OF the crowded