The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1908-09-03
IDOLS or THE H|N ! i:
There Are Hundreds of Millions
of Them In India.
THE FAME OF JUGGERNAUT.
This idol Has Been Worshiped About
Two Thousand Years, and His Ma
tionaI Temple Is on the Sands Of
Puri-The Three Monster Cars.


If / were asked to describe India the
first remark that would spring from
my lips would be, ut is land Of
ilols.'' 1t would be impossible to COM
pute the number Of idols that there
must be at the present time in India.
The Hindeos pretend to have $50, O00,.
COO gods. and these are represented by
innuinerable idols, so that we are quite
bewilderel with the thought of taking
the census of the idols Of India. The
population Of the whole Indian empire
is now about 3OO,OOO,OO0, and possibly
the country contains ten times as many
idols rs people.
Benares is the great center Of the
idol making business. though in oil
parts of India the trade tlourishes.
Potters the day through may be seen
in the sacred city molding images Of
clay for temporary use. Sculptors also
may be found producing representa-
tives Of the gods in stone OF marble.
Carpenters, moreover, make great
wooden idols for the temples, and
workers in metal-goldsmiths, copper.
smiths and brass workers-turn out
more or less highly finished specimens
in their respective metals.
When speaking of idols 1t should be
borne in mind that the images turned
out by the potter, sculptor, carver or
manufacturer are not considered ga.
cred or fit to be worshiped until Ger.
tain mystic words have been uttered
over them by priest. The ceremony
Of ''the giving Of life," as it is called,
to the image is very solemn affair,
and when it is done the idol is regard
ed as holy and must ever afterward be
approached and treated with the ut
most reverence.
Out Of the many millions of so called
gods in India. all of whom are counted
worthy Of worship. three are regarded
os specially sacred and form the Hin
doc triad or trinity. They are re-
spectively Brahma. Vishnu and silva.
OF those 1t is stated the second per-
son Of the trinity only has been rep.
resented Gu this earth by human in.
carnations. Through one or all Of these
gods the Hindoos believe they may OBJ.
tain salvation. Brahma represents the
way Of salvation by wisdom. vishnu
by faith and silva by works. 1t is
immaterial which method is adopted,
as they all lead to the same goal.
Juggernaut is perhaps the most IA.
nous name among all the Hindoo idols.
inasmuch as his fame has gone forth
into every land. His temple is situat-
ed on the sandy shores of Orissa, wash
ed by the wild waves of the bay Of
Bengal. The worship of Juggernaut
dates back nearly 1000 years, and
Orissa has been the holy land Of the
Hindoos from that time till the present
day.
Sir William Hunter, who was one of
the greatest authorities on things East
Indian. says in wonderfully graphic
description Of the temple Of Jugger-
naut: ION the inhospitable sands Of
Puri, place Of swamps and inunda-
tons. the Hindoo religion and Hindoo
superstitution have stood at bay for
eighteen centuries against the world.
Here is the national temple whittier
the people flock to worship from every
province Of India. There is the gate
Of heaven whittier thousands Of pill
grims come to die, lulled to this last
sleep by the roar Of the eternal ocean,"
Well, I saw on one occasion that
marvellous sight, the dragging Of Jug
gernaut's car and the cars Of his
brother and sister. The three idols
are inseparable, and ugly things they
are. being nothing but huge logs Of
wood coarsely fashioned into human
shape. but without arms or legs.
Juggernaut's car stands forty-one
feet high and has fourteen enormous
wheels. The other two cars are Just
little smaller. The great cars have
to be dragged certain distance-half
a mile or more from the temple-and
the god will not allow horses or ole
: plants to undertake the work, but
calls upon his faithful worshipers to
do it themselves Immense ropes, or,
rather, cables, are attached to the cars,
and at the word Of command from the
priests thousands of men and even
women and children rush forward and
seize the ropes and range themselves
In order and the next moment are
straining and pulling ut the cumber.
some conveyances. which at length
move with heavy, creaking noise.
Never shall forget the sight. The
road was filled with tens of thousands
Of lookers-on. all wild with excitement,
and the fanatics who held the ropes
We're dragging the cars along with
frcnzied zeal. Every now and then
there would he a stop that the men
might rest. supposed. but instead of
resting they took to jumping in the
Gir and to whirling themselves around
like dancing dcrvishes and shouting
at the top Of their breath: "Yictory!
Victory to Juggernaut!'
Once on n time infatuated worship.
ers would throw themselves under the
wheels of the mighty car that they
might be crushed to death, counting II
a privilege and joy thus to perish
Some might do 1t today If the paternal