New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1915-06-16

OsSS080 YOU say k1Oy22k0H'S
vow s11ay got q Subs fffuf0.
all Indian crowds, it neither hurried
nor pushed. We came IN time to the
station building proper and then to
most dilapidated gari (carriage)
and, seated therein, we set forth to
view the sights Of that unforgetable-
Kumbh Mela, the great festival which
occurs, once in twelve years.
Hindu Holy Men.
It was in the station that we first
began to notice the Sadhus and there
after all the other pilgrims had to
take second place in our thought and
Imagination, so absorbing and re-
1narkab1e were the actions and ap-
pearances of these Hindu holy men.
In the procession on the great day of
the Me1a they were doubtless still
more wonderful to behold. The
members of every sect and creed must
have been present to judge from the
variety of representatives. Some were
naked save for their matted hair,
either swinging loose like lions
name or wound turban like on their
heads. Some had smeared their
tcdies or faces with ashes (the
latter with most startling effect),
others wore clothes $50 numerous and
strange as to DEFY description and
hats of tall and curious shape.
Nearly all wore charms or beads and
carrier a staff or a pair of tongs or an
iron trident Still others lay on beds
Of spikes. Eve saw five engaged thus
painfully; and once we passed a
whole party of them riding in state
on three silver howdahed elephants.
BY the river bank were more asce-
tics. some motionless wholly lost In
meditation, and others reading aloud
from the Hindu scriptures. The
Braham priests, who looked sleek
and prosperous in contrast to the
sadhus. were everywhere conspicu-.
Gus in their shaver heads and yellow
robes The pictures Of two stand out
clearly in our minds. One, absorbed
in prayer was turning round and
round in the swift flowing current Of
the river, as it slips past the bathing
CHAT. The other, On the island
where the mushro m town has sprung
up, was engaged in ecstatic dancing
4 crowd of admiring spectators and
some strange rhythmic music fur
nishing the setting for his somewhat
exhausting performances.
The Mother of Rivers.
!. At the famous bathing place, Har-
.Si-Puri there is a rude bridge Of
boats crossing to a fat sun-bleached
island, and it was on this bridge that
We stood to watch the earnest seekers
thronging down to the Mother of
Rivers. The crowd were seeking the
water which they hoped would wash
away their sins and their diseases and
fo orf "a
ashes Of their deaed Some sat in
the water, some stood, some swan,
some drank, and many prayed.
Having seen the CHAT we could
easily understand how the fatal acct
dent, Causing the death Of twenty two
persons (which took place few days
later) could have occurred. On those
wet steps, worn smooth by genera
tions Of bare feet--it would indeed |
be dangerous to slip and it is a cause
for thankfulness that government |
can care so efficiently for the pill |
grirns that SUCH unfortunate occur
ances rarely take place. A walk over |
the city, built on the sand, followed |
such city, fashioned to house the |
overflow Of pilgrims, as could have |
been built nowhere In the west. It ]
consisted only Of matched roofs, (
mounted on crude poles, or tents |
pitched in the sun. Beneath these |
by night was huddled all the life Of |
those teaming multitudesa of pilgrims.
we sauntered through the bazaar one
of the streets being hot and Fragment |
with the cooking OF many kinds Of
food, from meat and vegetable dishes
to the delicious sweets, and then eros 4
sing by another bridge we came back
to our waiting gari by way of street
On the river side.
Beggars, Beggars Everywhere.
Everywhere we were approached
by the ubiquitous begars deformed or
diseased, who, though piteous to be-
hold, were eagerly displaying their
infirmities as excuse for their i'm
portunities.
Soon the heat Of the sun, savagely
reflected from the paved streets and
the water, together with approach
ing train time, drove us back to the
shelter of our disreputable carriage.
In it's welcome shade we drove slow
ly back to the station, tiffin basket
lunch and our departing train.
As we rode away in the now al
most empty car (for the great day
of the festival was still to Gomez we
gave ourselves to reflection upon the
deeper meaning Of it all. Under
meath much that was sordid and taw-
dry and depressing we had glinpsed
anew the solemn, eternal splendor Of
the finite soul that is restless until
1t finds rest in the infinite God. Bet
ter-far better-than the feverisn
quest for gold and for all the perish
ing possessions Of this transitory life,
Is the search, however confused and
protracted, for the Heavenly city
which lies beyond our sight. Here