El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-06-25

takes six full days. and the route is
marked with temple and shrines.
Everywhere go L see Brahmin
priests consoling and Fleeing the pill
grims. 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 &c.
600 of them in Benares They are found
near the temples and under great UNI
brellas down on the Gauges. They Will
cure your sins for q price, they also
take care of idols to the number Of a
half million or more
They Worship Monkeys.
Benares is a city of sacred beasts as
well as sacred men. It swarms with
sacred cows and great white bulls with
bumps on their backs. 1t has sacred
apes and a great temple in which the
monkeys live with a goddess. L visited
that temple this morning and watched
the priests sacrifice a live goat to Dur
ga, the goddess of suffering and death
The temple is surrounded by a wall In
front of ii is q stone upon which Is a
forked post with two prongs. The goats
neck was tied to the fork and cut off
by a half naked Hindoo with the blow
of a cleaver- As the Ak struck the blood
spurted and the horrid goddess, il
seemed TO me, burst into a grin.
Durga is supposed TO love blood She
has a 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
Of sacrifices and thousands of human
beings have been killed on her affairs.
The British have forbidden this now,
but is only a little more than gener-
alton ago, during a famine, that boy
was found with his neck cut in a temple
to Durga not far from here, and within
% miles Of Calcutta a human head
decked with flowers was placed on the
altar of this goddess.
Among the queer features Of the
temple are the monkeys which throng
its courts and which live in the trees
which hang over il. The monkeys are
sacred to Vishnu, another great deity.
They are kept and reTered as repre-
senetations of the monkey god Ram,
and are considered gods and goddesses
who must not be touched. They are
fed 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 I bought some for these beasts. As
I carried il into the temple they jump
ed at ne and grabbed the corn from
the plate. AS it fell upon the floor
monkeys came down in droves from
the trees and chartered and grinned
while they chew ed up the grain.
I was warned no: to touch or strike
them, as they are vicious and some
times bite strangers. There were also
many baby monkeys, which trOtted
about singly and with their parents
ard a dozen half starved dogs, which
rushed in and fought with the mon
KEYS for the popcorn.
n
From the monkey temple : went to
the Golden Temple. This is in the
heart of Benares- It is one of the
most beautiful buildings of the city.
and it has spires and domes plated
with gold It is dedicated 10 SILVA,
the husband Of Durga, another ter
rible god. SILVA is supposed to sit en-
thrOned on one Of the Himalaya noun
tains and to be waited or by minor
gods and innumerable spirits.
He is the god of time and of death
and destruction. He is also the creator
and ruler of evil spirits and ghOuls,
and at nightfaH he prOwls where the
dead lie. He is the god of the fanatics
who go about naked covered with ashes
and who pose themselves standing for
months, days and years in one place
with their hands stretched up to
heaven.
me Ooloen temple Is ABOUT the hOIeSt
place in Benares. I was stopped at the
door by the priest and told that none
but HindoOs could enter. 1 could see
through the doorway, however. The
court was filled with people from all
over India They were of all classes,
some clad in rich dresses and others in
rags They were from city and coun-
try. from all parts, from the Himalayas
in Nepal and from south Hindustan.
Connected with this temple is a court
yard containing a well the water Of
which is so holy that he who drinks It
7 III go up to heaven. The water is
ladled out by priests TO the pilgrims,
who throw flowers and other things
down into the well as they offerings.
These rot and make the contents filthy
and putrid- 1t smells like bad eggs, but
il is bought by the cupfu1 and guIped