Fort Pierce news. (Fort Pierce, Fla.) 190?-1920, 1908-07-31
IDOLS Or THE HINDOOS
There Are Hundreds Of Millions
of Them In India.
THE FAME OF JUGGERNAUT.


If were asked to describe India the
first remark that would spring from
my lips would he, 1T Is d land OF
tdols." 1t would be impossible 10 com
mute the nun Der Of idols thai there
must be at the present time I'm India
The Hiudoos pretend TO bave 338,OO9''
900 gods, and these are represented Dy
innumersb BILE idols SO that We are quite
Ecwildered with the thought ~ taxing
the census Of the idols Of India. The
pouulauon a. the whole Indian empire
IS now about 3o000O00O and possibly
the country contains ten times as many
idols as people.
Beuares Is the great center OF the
Idol making business, though IN al
parts Of India the trade 1ourishes.
Potters the day through may be seen
tn tie sacred city moldipg images OF
clay for temporary use. Sculptors also
may De found producing representa-
tiyes u the gods in stone or marble.
Carpenters. moreover, make great
wooden IDOLS for the temples. ana
workers in -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
opt by the potter sculptor, carver or
manufacturer are not considered sa-
cred or ct 20 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,
10 the image is a very solemn affair,
and when il Is done the idol is regard
I'd as holy aud must ever afterward be
approached and treated With the Ut
most reverence.
Out of the many millions Of 80 called
gods in India, all Of whom are counted
worthy Of worship, three are regarded
as specially sacred and form the Hin
600 triad or trinity. They are re
epecttyely Brahma. 'Vishuu and Siva
Of those it IS stated the second per.
son Of the trinity only 1as been rep
Dtcd sJs earth by human in
Vi .ations. Through one or all Of these
Rous 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
imnaterial which method is adopted.
as they all lead to the same goal
Juggcrnaut Is perhaps the most ia.
nous name among all the HiDdoo idols,
inasuuch as his fame has gone forth
into every land His temple is situat-
ed on the sandy shores Of Orissa, wash.
ell by the wild waves Of the bay Of
Bengal The worship Of JuEgernaut
dates back nearly 20GO years. and
Orissa has been the holy land Of the
Hindoos from that time till the present
day.
Sir William Hunter. who was one ot
the greatest authorities on things EaSt
Indian says in a wonderfully graphic
description OF the temple OF Jugger
naut; ION the !nhospitable sands OF
Puri a place OF swamps and inunda
lions. the ITindoo religion and HindoC
superstitution have stood at bay fol
eighteen centuries against the world
Here Is the national temple whittier
the people fock to worship from every
province Of India There is the qatl
OF heaven whittier thousands Of pill
grims come 70 die, lulled TO this las
sleep 10y the roar Of the eternal ocean
Well, saw on one occasion tina
marvellous sight, The dragging OF jug
gernauts car and the cars Of hi.
brother and sister The three idols
are mseparable, and ugly things they
nre, being nothing but huge logs Of
wood coarsely fashioned. into human
shape. but without arms or legs.
Juggernaut's car stands forty-ons
feet high and has fourteen enormous
wheels. The other two cars are JUS
q little smaller The great cars have
20 be dragged a certain distance hall
a mile or more from the temple---ant
the god will not allow horses or Gle
plants to undertake the work, but
calls upon his faithful worshipers &c
do 1t themselves. Immense ropes, or
rather, cables. are attached to the cars
aud at the word of command from the
priests thousands Of men and ever
women ana children rush forward ant
seize the ropes and range themselves
in order and the next moment are
straining and pulling al the cumber
some conveyances. which at Length
move with q heavy, creaking noise.
Never shall l forget the sight. The
road was filed with tens Of thousand:
of lookers-on. all wild with excitement
and the fanatics who held the ropes
W ere dragging the cars along with
frenzied zeal. Every DOW and theI
there would be q stop that the men
might rest. I supposed, but instead Oh
resting they took to jumping IN the
. A.. - q, ,,,bfvIIuu fhonCaIvRa qFOUTd