Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1913-04-11
SUFFER FOR FAITH
PathOS In the Customs of Devout
HinduS at BenareS.' go
t..to pa, y ,. 5000, 't..''
ENDURE TORTURE IN RIVER.
Spiritual Additions Marked by Queer
Ceremonies, After Which Bathers
Avoid Touch of Passersby, Which
Would Oblige Another Pureation.


Would Oblige Another Pursation.
u ls.
At BenareS YOU realize that Hindu
ism is 4 living thing. and it presents
itself with Il beauty and pathoS which
are astonishing to the visitor who has
thought of it only rs Anticipated idol
airy.
Just now the Gauges is low. and the
long flights Of steps, the CHATS, are
bare almost TO the bottom, but In the
ruined colonnudeS and entertainments
and temple actually Sudden into the
water the power and ravageS of the
river in flood are seen. ,..tt.sE
We embark on Il miniature boat
house and seat ourselves on the roof,
and we are slowly rowed mp the
stream as far as the tree covered ter
race where Warren Hastings took ref
uge from the outraged people of the
city; then down the stream t. the
mosque, with its tall minaretS, which
AurangZeb erected to fout the -HinduS 4>.
and rebuke their idolatry.
The bank is steep and rises to the
height of POO feet. On it rise temples.
with their carved SikraS and gilded
SUBMITS, jumbled together with pal
aces. that rooted. piled high on solid
and imposing battcmentS. and Il med
ley of steps and terraces and gate
ways, through which the river is
reached from the city. The buildings
are yellow or terra Gotta cOlored, gid
ed and otherwise decorated, so that
the effect is hardly less beautiful than
that of the Grand canal. Sacred bulls
are tethered in many places, TO which
the people S;llaam.~ '''' '
The bandits rerline under their UNI
brcllaS, comfortable and serene. eX-.
acting toll from the hatherS who come
down to the water ut their allotmentS.
Here long row Of women with
man or two croucheS on the very
brink, and a Brahman priest, naked
but for Il loin cloth, passes from one
to another and gives them the sacred
mark. They put the water OF the
river on his feet ana KISS Them: then
they drink the water which has touch
ed him from their bands. One woman
rises up. her arms straight above her
head. and makes obeisance. The priest
gives them some directions mutterS
his mantras-and waves his hands in
token of dismissal.
Though it is not easy to distinguish
the ordinary washing and bathing from
the sacred Junction. there is enough or
the manifested act of worship to give
to the scene an air Of Solemnity. Men
and women are mixed. but no one re-
CARDS any one else. Each is engaged in
his own addition. physical or spiritual.
Here a woman croucheS, splaShing the
wafer on her face and making mystical
marks on forehead and breast. Here
man stands in the MATER. revolving and.
folding his hands together each time III.
his revolution as he faces the sun.
Here is another man in Il red cloak
standing up to his waist and muttering
with a whirring sound. There he stands
daily from 3 a. m to noon and has
done so for nine years. His eyes are
beared with the sun; all expression mas
left his face. He is like mechanism
of devotion.
In another place young men, mutter'
ing their prayers. plunge into the
stream and return to their little matted
platforms. There must he three dips
TO accomplish the necessary purgadon.
AS the bathers return through the mar
row street they shrink from contact
with the passersby, for if they touche-
they must return and repeat their
washing.
A beautiful Jain temple, quite new,
rises up just above and CLEANS White,
against the intense blue. and in the
heights of the sky white doves are
wheeling; on the roofs and trees are
kites and vultureS. The Jain wears
veil over his mouth. lest he should in
advertently swallow and kill an insect.
Hinduism required the widow to ole
with her husband, and Hinduism, with
out sign Of mourning, commits its dead
to the pyre and their ashes to the river.
Is it from a profound faith that death,
is impossible. that the dead fare on art
or death and return to fresh einc0rna-
tons! asks the rev. IL. ~ iloi 'oi III
the Philadelphia Ledger: And are these
fakirs torturing themselves in unutter-
able ways in order to secure a better
incarnation or even the blessednesS or
escaping personal being altogether? 1t
is hard indeed for Il Christian TO enter
into the mind of Hinduism. to reconcile D."
its incongruites to conceive its aspira-
tons. But one thing Christian must
feel at Benares, says Or. Horton. eSpe-
cialy in early morning visits to the
temples. and that is a conviction of the
sincerity. the self sacrifice, the devo-
ton Of devout HinduS.
49, 49, - ...,.;... 't;
The Aviator's Progress.
In the air one minute: Another mad