The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1918-01-31

4 BDFE US the huge tower of the
IN temple, one of the six gopur-
ans, tapers gradually upward,
covered with the incrustations
IF its myriad images, says Doctor
lGssarmer in the Manchester QlnglanO
Guardian. Dark hued people in daz-
sszng c0lOrs swarm along the street,
elta white lines of Vishnu or of SILVA
cleaning on their foreheads under the
s1zSgat December sun; and from the
street a stream passes continually
through the high gateway into the
e4srz arcade Of shops and great paint
Al lnageS-the piers of this architec-
;.I[ce-ghNugh which one can dimly
asese passage beyond high passage, as
f.ar as The vague hint Of the shrine at
chs end Of this dark perspective.
There is an hour in the year when
~ beam from the rising sun pierces
zAr whole long length through the
r-ldS5 Of the temple and strikes the
-zzEaGe of the god SILVA Sundareswar
1u Ehe depths of his inmost sanctuary,
'1rllere none but Hindus may ever en-
tGY
To pass through that first high but
Gloomy passage into the precincts OF
',1ae temple itself is to travel back 5000
y@sars. feel that shall never long
las transplanted into ancient Egypt
again. have been there, and 1 know
N5ghat it must have been like.
Nor viii the Parthenon be ever
again TO me an empty ruin. I can
imagine 1t now as it was, only Greek
refinement instead of Hindu coarse
!ga>Ss and excess, with the Greek beau
u of sculptured gods and goddesses
2Dsfead of the cruel, minatory gro
-EaIDes of this strange pantheon. l
c2H picture now what the ancient
organism was like, and how the
philosophers taught one thing while
liz people fiercely believed another,
ann how the common worship of the
,>Towd and the ancient immemorial
{r.DZifion drew the hearts of the
philosophers in spite of themselves.
Life and Traffic Ancient.
True, the architecture of this Indian
temple is but q few hundred years
s3Ed; Tor most Hindu buildings are
-2soeiern compared with their faith.
8Gt the spirit is as old as Egypt-the
!t&II sinister air of mystery, and the
1sgarmS upon swarms of people,
'graNding the vast corridors, passing
sat into the sunshine under the paint
sd c0lonnade round the square eXpanse
NJ bright green water, each seeking his
special god, each WOrshiping where his
fancy leads him. The people are dark
81, the peryading smell is of melted
mi instead of incense. But it is the
life chat is the same, the life of thou
,s3z9ds who are here because all the
sz2Cis are real to them-the women, for
Instance, who clasp their hands and
IHrUStrate themselves when our guide
"Opens the doors which protect the
sjlded cars and subsidiary images
Gsiapping them Familiarity with his
handy
III is the life and the traffic that are
80 real, SO UNNECESSARILY Old, from the
Compile elephant, sWaying to and fro in
al corridor that is not the least dwarfed
EF him, to the men who are chanting
EsslaS by the tank, and the little naked
csildren turning solemnly round be-
GsNs1se their parents do so, and the
1lssaldreds of drowsy men who squat at
different boards on the floor selling
-,.SrKEree flowers and other offerings
fur the gods.
AHined temples smell of flowers, or
osrth, or desert sand, and are washed
GlEan and dried by nature. But this liv-
SzgaE city of columns smells of life, and
&s1e stone pavement is soft with dirt ;
fha weird carvings are obscured with
&HAGy layers of solid whtewash or
<sz1ckened by greasy hands and hot
-GEEsgws; the sacred idols drip with oil
.1iS& are blackened also.
In the Heart OF the Temple.
One gigantic image especially no one
-G2io has seen it is likely to forget, as it
1ssaTns out, black and sticky, in the light
EeF two fiaring lamps (made as the
Greeks made Lamps that are held up
&y two half-naked servants. 1t is Cane
Eizlg the good-natured elephant god, as
E5Tnad as he is long, but looking porten-
taszs and horrible, his trunk lying
aexoss the huge prOtuberanGe of his
3Rnulnanly human abdomen.
Aad the life of the temple is so real
s}ecause it is also the life of the city.
u is inwoven not only by the tradi-
tfsa that in India is literally timeless,
bs& by the customs Of every hour, and
&lT She heaviest of all customs, caste.
AT any hour the life of the people may
be seen in epitome here. in the heart of
fIsss temple; three gaunt widows well
wrapped in their dull white saris are
cgglatting on the ground to feed a sleek
Ytp0ng Brnhman clad in q lOln cloth.