The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-06-26
I'm the Ganges-How Fndoos Worship Their Gods at Holy
City of BenaresNoney Temple and Its Terrible Goddess
ny FRANK G. CARPENTER.

Benares, 1910.
This is the hottest city on the face of
The globe. All who die within fifty miles
OF Benares. whether they be Hindoos
or Moharnmedans, Buddhists or Chris
tians, liars or thieves. go straight to
heaven. Even to visit Benares wipes
away sin, and to battle In the holy
you eternally happy. 1t is the great
est pilgrimage city on earth. The
tomb OF Confucius in China the birth
place OF Mohammed at Mecca and the
Church OF the Holy Sepulchre at Je-
rusalem all put together have not half
the worshipers. More than million
pilgrims annually kneel at these
shrines. In coming to them thou
sands have prostrated themselves
again and again, measuring their jour
ney by their own lengths, and every
pilgrim thus goes around the holy spots
near the city, making circuit of for
ty-fve miles. This pilgrimage takes
six full days. and the route is marked
with temples and shrines.
Everywhere go ] see Brahmin
priests consoling and fleeing the pill
grinis. They can be told by the caste
marks on their faces and half-naked
bodies. and by the white strings
around their necks. There are more
than 10000 Of them In Benares. They
are found near the temples and under
great umbrellas down on the Gauges.
They will cure your sins for a price;
they also take care of idols to the num-
Der OF half million or more.
They Worship Monkeys.
Bcnares IS a city of sacred beasts as
we'll as sacred men. 1t swarms with
sacred cows and great white bulls with
humps on their backs. 1t has sacred
apes and great temple in which the
monkeys live with a goddess.
] visited that temple this morning
and watched the priests sacrifice a live
goat to Durga. the goddess of suffering
and death. Tho temple is surrounded
by wall. In front OF 1t IS a stone up
on which Is a forked post with two
prongs. Tho goats neck was tied to
tho fork and ,ut off by half-naked
AS the axo struck. tho blood Bpurted.
and the horrid goddess. 1t seemed to
me, burst into q grin
Durga IS supposed 10 love blood.
She has q necklace OF skulls under
her blood dripping mouth. She Is
crowned with snakes like the Medusa.
and her face was covered with gore.
She Is fond II sacrifices, andthousands
of human beings have been killed on
her affairs The British have forbid
den this now, but II is only little
more than generation ago. during
a famine. that boy was found with
his neck cut in temple to Durga not
far from here, and within twenty-five
miles OF Calcutta a human head decked
with flowers was placed on the altar of
this goddess
Among the queer features OF the tenn
pie are the monkeys which throng Its
courts and which live in the trees
which hang over II. The monkeys are
sacred to Vishnu. another great deity
They are kept and revered as represen-
tations of the monkey god Ram, and
are considered gods and soddesses who
must not be touched. They are fee
By the priests and pilgrims and are
so tame that they will come to you,
feet. AT the entrance to the temple
were peddlers selling popcorn. and
bought some for these beasts. AS
carried IN into the temple they jump
ed at me and grabbed the corn from
the plate. AS It fell upon the foo
monkeys came down in droyes from
the trees and chartered and grinnec
while they chewed up the grain. wa.
warned not to touch or strike them, al
they are vicious and sometimes bit,
strangers. There were also many bah,
monkeys. which trotted about singh!
and with their parents, and a dozeI
halt-staryed dogs, which rushed in ant
fought with the monkeys for the pop
corn.
Memorial Tween ty-Seyen Centuries.
From the monkey temple / went I
the Golden Temple. This Is In the hear