The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-01-28

rif1ces would still be offered to it
daily Temples abound where snakes
are kept for the conveniences of wor-
shipers. and on account of the protec-
ton which is thus afforded them the
reptiles multiply until the whole
one who would even suggest destroy
ing them would be In disgrace with
the whole community
Tne religious festivals called Pujas
ara observed with a sentiment which
approaches raving ardor. During the
time OF these demonstrations the en-
tire population refrains from work and
gives itself over to unmitigated ca
rouSals. The programme consists Of
erecting an image of some particular
| idol, TO which offerings Of every sort
are given and sacrifices of goats are
made After the image has been prop
| erIy feted on land, the jewellers form
a, procession to the bank of the river
where an excursion on the water fol-
lows. After this the idol Is dumped
overheard thus passing theoretically
| to paradise.
One of the popular deities is Durga
the ten-armed goddess, carrying in her
numerous hands as many different
weapons, viz: sword, dagger, lance
stfletto, saw, cleaver, knife boom
erang, tomahawk and screw driver
DUrga is really a number Of images
| Joined in one group, among them be-
| ing a. son who is a war deity, and an
other who is financial secretary to the
gods. The group includes the birds
and animals which the gods ride. The
goddess herself is seated on lion
while the war god bestrides a gorgeous
peafowl, and the financial secretary al
rascaIly rat. This rat is called a ras-|
| cal because he has the unfortunate
habit Of eating all the rainbow gems
which are said to be Matched by the
peafowl which his brother rides.
A Glimpse of Barbarism.
The scene of one of the Pujas is a
glimpse Of ancient barbarism. Around
the image are the PROSTATE suppl
cants, the women praying for male
children and the men asking the favor
of the destruction of their enemies
The offerings consist of piles of fruit
and vegetables, bundles of cloth, pyra-
mids of soaked rice, hillocks of peas
and cocoanuts, and hundreds of can
dies burning in broad day On the
outer circle dogs sit on their launches
and cats lick their mustaches at the
sight of the tempting things piled in
such prOfusion.
Clouds of incense smoke drift up
wards and the ground is stained with
| the blood Of the goats whose heads
have fallen under the sacrificial sword.
Above the bediam Of voices is heard
the metallic crash Of huge bells and the
thump of drums. The goats are be-
| headed one after the other by an i'm
mense butcher, who is as black and
fierce as the Duke Of Thunderland His
name is Observation-Disclosures which
reads the same backward or forward.
He uses a fresh sword to dispatch each
goat.
The idol is twenty feet in height and
is carried to the river bank on the
backs Of sixty bearers. The barge
which conveys il to the middle of the
stream is surrounded by fully 1000
row boats. AS the motley flotilla drifts
on the tide the uproar continues.
Shouts and songs and jests are banded
back and forth until the echoes ring
with the discord. Finally the unwieId-
ly image is toppled into the water, and
the long orgy is brought TO an end.
Such idOlatTOus scenes as this leave
an unpleasant impression on the mind
of the spectator. The bleating goats
struggling in the hands OF their gory
eXecutioners, the uncanny sounds of
paganism and the shining faces of the
half-crazed fanatics swarming around
their gaudy idol, makes one wonder if
degradation is not the disobedience of
the divine command, Thou shalt have
none other gods but me- Thou shalt
not make to myself any craven i'm
age for I the Lord thy God am a
jealous God, and visit the sins of the
fathers upon the children. unto the
third and fourth generation of them
that hate me ="