Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-06-04

| relatives and friends, and there consumed
| by burning on pyre constructed by their
| hands. The dramatic entities must be APP
| parent to every thoughtful spectator.
| CHATTER of brass cymbals reaches the
| ear, and a cortege appears at the top of
| the CHAT, while desultory cries of Rama,
| mama satya hail." are heard. The corpse,
| fastened upon a simple bier of bamboos
and carried on the shoulders of four rel
| atives, is swathed In white If male or in
| red If a female. The bearers hasten down
| the decline and clumsily drop their burden
| in the water, feet foremost, making certain
that the current will have undisturbed play
| upon The corpse without sweeping it away
The mourners then repair to the place
adjoining where dry wood is sold and en-
! ter upon spirited bargaining for sufficient
! fuel to consume their departed relative,
| whose body Is being laved and cleansed of
| spiritual imperfections by the sacred
| Ganges. But six or eight logs are required
| The wood merchant demands three rupees
| for them-and the grief-stricken Hindus
! offer one. A bargain is finally struck at
two rupees. with stick of sandalwood for
| the head of the pyre thrown in.
| The logs are quickly conveyed to the
| burning ground, q satisfactory site for the
| ceremony chosen, and the mourners con-
| struct the pyre. The corpse, now sancti-
| fled by Mother Ganga, is fetched from the
| strand and placed the pile, feet direct
| cd toward the precious river. The pyre
| now Is ready for the torch and here oc-
| ours a curious incident illustrating the
| monopolistic Importance of a man wearing
| only loin cloth. who has taken an indif-
| ferent interest in the proceedings from
| stone platform close a M
| caste so degraded that should he mad
vertentiy touch a corpse 1t would be con-
| taminated beyond remedy. But immemo
| rial custom requires that the fire be OBJ
| tained from him. and he may demand pay
| ment therefor in keeping with his es innate
of the worldly position of the applicants.
| A rupee is ordinarily sufficient, although
| for grandee's cremation fee of a. thou
| sand rupees Is sometimes demanded and
| paid.
| X
| The dicker with the Dom being con-
| cluded. the chief mourner lights handful
! Of dried reeds at his fire, hurries to the
| waiting pyre, walks seven times around 1t.
| and with the blazing reeds held in the
| right hand lights the mass at head and
| foot. The mourners then Withdraw to a
| shaded spot and silently watch the con-
| fagration. All is over in an hour, and
| then the ashes are strewn far out on the
! surface of the Ganges and are borne from
| sight by the current.
| From ten to fifteen corpses are disposed
! of at the burning CHAT daily. and several
| cremations usually proceed simultaneously.
] Now and then there Is some demonstration
/ Of grief, but not often.
| 1 observed two men wade to a body In
| the river, pull away the covering from the
| face and affectionately battle 1t with hand
| fuls of water scooped from beloved Ganga.
| Again / witnessed tottering and sobbng
! old man place, with every expression Of
| tenderness, garland of yellow and white
| flowers about the neck of red-swathed
! corpse, and imagined It the last Office of
| love to an idolized daughter. l also saw
| the naked corpse of a man who had died
| an hour before of plague fetched to the
] CHAT by two public scavengers and COM
mtted to the flames OF a few logs much
| too short for the deceased until his legs
had been doubled beneath the body. No
| sandalwood perfuio1o this paupers pyre.
| Social distinc.io5 ) are as marked at the
/ Benares burning ssnat as Is the modern
cemetery In America. An hour passed on
the Ganges bank supplies sufficient food to
/ the mind for weeks OF reflection.
/ ~
Every traveller has observed that one Of
the greatest sights in India is the pill
grims bathing In the Ganges. Besides sew
eraI CHATS devoted to them. there are nu-
merous wooden piers extending into the
| sacred stream--and these TEEN with pill
grims from every part of Hindustan, In
| every variety of costume. every stage Of
dress and undress. there to wash away bod
fly impurities and purge themselves Of un-
clean thoughts and wicked deeds Preach
ing canopies. shrines for rich and powerful
| rajahs, and stone recesses for those de-
manding solitary mediation make Of the
river front place literally alive with hui
| manity.ll Devotees are everywhere Here
q Rrahiilin pundit is reading the holy law
= IN a half hundred a13provfng Hiudus: fhero