New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1908-08-05
IDOLS OF he H|NDOOS


THE FAME OF JUGGERNAUT..
This lido! Has Been Worshiped About
Two Thousand Years, and His Ma
tional Temple Is on the Sands of
I, Puri-The Three Monster Cars.
If I were asked to describe India the
first remark that would spring from
my lips would be, TT Is land OF
idols" 1t would be impossible to COM
pute the number Of idols that there
must be at the present time in India.
The Hindoos pretend to have 333,OO0,-
coo gods, and these are represented by
innumerable idols, so that we are quite
bewldered with the thought Of taking
the census of the idols of India. The
population of the whole Indian empire
is now about 3O0OOO,0OO, and possibly
the country contains ten times as many
idols as people.
Benares is the great center Of the
idol making business, though in all
parts of India the trade fourishes.
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-
tiyes Of the gods in stone or 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 it should be
borne in mind that the images turned
out by the potter, sculptor, carver OF
manufacturer are not considered sa
| cred or fit to be worshiped until Ger
tain mystic words have been uttered
over them by a 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 b.
approached and treated with the ut
most reverence.
Out Of the many millions of SO callel
gods in India, all of whom are COUNTIES
worthy of worship, three are REGARDED
as specially sacred and form the. Hin
doc triad or trinity. They are re
spectively Rrahma, Vishnu and silva
Of those it is stated the second pei
son Of the trinity only has been reI
resented on this earth by human il
carnations Through one or all of thes
gods the Hindoos believe they may OF
tain salvation Brahma represents til
way of salvation by wisdom, Vishn
by faith and silva by works. 1t
immaterial which method is adopted
as they all lead to the same goal
Juggernaut is perhaps the most fl
nous name among all the Hindoo idol
inasmuch as his fame has gone fort
into every land. His temple is situa
ed on the sandy shores of Orissa, was]
ed by the wild waves Of the bay {
Bengal The worship of Juggernar
dates back nearly 1000 years, an
Orissa has been the holy land of tt
i Hindoos from that time till the prese1
/ day.
Sir William Hunter, who was one
the greatest authorities on things Ea
, Indian, says in wonderfully graph
description Of the temple Of Jugge
I, naut: ION the inhospitable sands
. Puri, a place of swamps and inund
| lions. the Hindoo religion and Hindt
superstitution have stood at bay f
! eighteen centuries against the Worl
Here is the national temple width
the people flock to worship from eve
province of India. There is the ga
Of heaven whittier thousands of p
grims come to die, lulled to this la
), sleep by the roar of the eternal ocean
Well | saw on one occasion tn
r marvellous sight, the dragging Of il
gernaut's car and the cars of b
brother and sister. The three lido
are inseparable, and ugly things tht
q are, being nothing but huge logs i
t. wood coarsely fashioned into hums
z shape, but without arms or legs.
d Juggernaut's ear stands forty-ol
:; feet high and has fourteen enormo
wheels Ths other two cars are ju
i a little smaller. The great cars ha
to be dragged a certain distance---ha
mile or more from the temple-al
le the god will not allow horses or e
g plants to undertake the work,
= calls upon his faithful Worshipers
do it themselves. Immense ropes,
rather, cables, are attached to the ca
>. and at the word of command from t
Is priests thousands Of men and ev
9 women and children rush forward a
seize the ropes and range themselv
in order and the next moment 8
straining and pulling at the cumb
.. some conveyances. which at lena