Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1905-07-20
ANIMAL TYRANTS OF ASIA.
Difference to Bulls, Crocodiles, Monkeys and Other
Animals by People Of Asia

HEADQUARTERS Of all The numerous cults
of Brahminism that especially worship
one or other OF these sacred beasts.
One of the hottest places In Benares Is
the DOorga Khond, or Monkey Temple
The monkey comes next TO the BranmIneS
bull in order OF sanctity. An English resi-
dent In the city assured the writer that
anybody who killed or even III treated
| monkey would run very GOOD cfance OF
being toxin 10 pieces by the fanatical ma
tiyes. That Is not generally true OF India
for | have seen monkeys Killed mere
without any trouble resulting, but l be-
lieve II Is true OF Benares.
At the Doorga Khond hundreds OF mon
keys are kept az 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 consequence. they are
Jolly, od-tempered little fellows, quite
unlike the savage. sulky brutes you see In
an Anne rican 200" 1t Is mistake 10
suppose that a monkeys nature Is essen
TALLY vicious.
The temple is simply large paved yard
surrounded by high walls. on which there
are a lot of wooden boxes and houses
in which the monkeys live. There Is big
swim in. If they choose to do so. and a
huge banyan tree gives them all the gym
nastic exercise they want. Visitors are
welcomed but they are expected to buy
food for the monkeys from the priests at
an exorbitant price. AS soon as they get
inside. the monkeys mob them: climbing
their hands. and then scampering of to
eat it in the banyan tree.
These monkeys and all of their kind
the grayish- brown, short-tail common
monkey of northern India-are supposed
to be the descendants of Thurman. the
mOnkey-gOd of southern India. According
to the myth Of the Brahmins. Thurman
aided Rama to conquer Cevlon by building
a bridge of rocks from India to that is
land. His image is to be seen in most
Hindu 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 shopkeep-
ers are constantly worried by their for
aging escapades, but they dare not resent
them any more than those of the sacred
bull. These monkeys are often the COM
pa mons of the hermits and faquirs with
which India swarms. and they are the
chief part Of the congregation 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 We're fed
with children and other human sacrifices.
but the British Government. though very
indulgent towards 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 a fact
that many fanatical Hindus would not
kill crocodile which had killed their wife
or child.
Some Hindus are unspeakably cruel to
al the faiths of India enjoin kindness to
dumb animals as a religious duty. Bud
dhism does so most emphatically. for the
whole tendency of its teaching rightly
given is to make man gentle and mild
The Parsees are noted for their kind
ness to all creatures. man and beast and
they give largely out Of their boundless
wealth to the support of the Jain temples
which are. perhaps, the most delightful
places in all India.
All the best elements in Brahminism
flock to the Jain cult. as the needle flies
to the magnet The jams recognize all
the gods of the Hindu creed. wear the
Brahminical thread. and adhere to Hindu
ca; Yet they are utterly unlike
to ignore all that is vile in Brahminism
and to devote themselves to all that is
noble. They reverence the sacred ami
mails but they give to the worship a prac-
teal twist by adoring all animals. ali Hv-
ing creatures; and by making veterinary
surgery at once their vocation and their
religion.
Every Jain temple is a hospital for the
lame. the blind. the sick and the mal-treat-
ed among animals. The priests go around
the streets of the crowded city, picking
up dogs with broken legs. cats that have
been nearly starved to death. and birds
with broken wings. If they see an ass or
a horse that is ,ooyerworked and cruelty
beaten, they will buy it from the brutal |
owner. All the animals thus rescued are
taken to the temple grounds and tenderly |
and patiently treated and nursed back to |
When they are recovered they remain |
with the jams as pensioners or perhaps
are given away to people who may be re- |
lied upon to treat them kindly They are
not sold. Unlike most Hindu priests. the |
jams are not greedy and avaricious |
Their lives are devoted. purely and SIM
ply. to their curious but very practical re-
ligion. They are kindly and courteous |
folk. always ready to acquire merit by /
extending hospitality to the wayfarer
But the guest need not expect to find any
flesh food in their temples He will have
to be content with rice. pulse. and ghee.
AS veterinary surgeons. the jams are un-
rivalled: and any four-fo or feathered
sufferer who falls into their hands is
Inade comfortabie for life. This is the |
India is. of course not the only Oriental
country In which animals are regarded as
sacred. In almost all Eastern lands save
those which. are tightly in the grip OF |
Islam. certain dumb creatures are the OBJ
1ects or reverence or of superstition. If
not of actual worship. Slams sacred
Whlte elephant.a curious superstition
grated upon n debased form of BUDDHISM
is the best known example. but dozens