New Britain herald., 1919-05-03

y
as q missionary. The accompanying
photographs were snapped with his
camera.)
To most Of us India is a country
with large population Of dark peo~
pie, speaking u foreign language and
that India has a population of over
800, 100000; that there are more than
100 different languages and dialects
spoken there; that one Of the most
wonderful buildings is found in India,
and that not only are there Hindus
With their countless gods Which are
Worshipped, but that there are also
Mohammedan Sikhs, Parsees and
Buddhists?
The study OF these religious cults
is very interesting and, while some of
these so-called religions are of more
recent date, at least one had it's origin
before the beginning Of the Christian
era.
Hinduism is very old and has it's
sacred books called the Vedas. It is
d growth, along racial and social lines.
with the old story of the priests grad
ually gaining control over the people
and finally claiming that they came
from the head of Brahma, the su-
prene god. They formed a separate
class or caste and. after q while. all
of the people We're put into classes
| or castles; of these there are four
| Those who We're originally inhahltahts
! OF India became the laborers-or
4l1c1f1--Qn6
not caste: they are. in other words,
! outcasts.
! The highest god is a triad called
| tho Trimurti-Brahma Vishnu and
sira the creator, the preserver and
! the destroyer Vishnu and his vito
| Lockshmi, and SRA and his wife Kali
receive most Of the worship. There
are, Of course, many other gods, and
they also are Worshipped; for the
Hindu may worship as many gods as
he pleases
There is a hill near the city Of
Rajamundrv called Kornkonda on
! which a temple has been erected in
honor or one of the lesser gods, and
! once every year the people make a
! pilgrimage to worship there-which
! means that they go to bring some gift
! and ask q petition of the god. Then
! they are blessed by the priest, and
! the rest OF the day they have a good
| time. The are 598 steps leading up
! to the temple. The people so Up
! saying ''mantrams' or prayers, and
! finally reach the temple Halfway
! up is q little temple containing q stone
! about a foot and a half square on
| which can be see the imprint of the
! bare foot Of the god. The people
! drop coins into the water standing in
| the depression of the stone and bless
! themselves with the water. On both
sides Of the steps beggars and lepers
are seated and the pilgrims drop a
! little rice or some shells (32 shells
! amount to One-sixth of a cent? into
! the cloth of the suppliants. When the
/ people reach the foot of the hill they
! visit the sacred "tank' or pond of
! stagnant water. into which they wade
/ and receive a blessing from the priest
:, At the same time they enjoy a re-
! freshing drink of this tasty water in
which others are bathing or washing
their clothes.
In the afternoon the Juggernaut
Car is drawn through the streets. This
| is the Car of Vishnu, who came to
| earth nine times, and in one Of the
| stories or platforms OF the car the
local god is placed. AS the car is
! drawn through the streets by the will
| ing hands of men worshippers, the
onlookers throw bananas or other
fruit as offerings to the god.
Near the foot Of the hill the mer-
chants put up stalls and everything
imaginable can be bought by the pill
grims who have done their duty
, toward the god and are now ready
for picnic, which they fully enjoy.
Let us visit Calcutta, the second
largest city in the British Empire,
with it's up-to-dato stores, it's beau
tiful and massive residency, it's won
derful botanical gardens and its Kali
temple.
Kali is the wife Of the god Sira the
destroyer. In this little temple is q
statue Of this monster which I shall
try to describe. SRA is lying on his
| back blowing q horn to keep his
: spouse in good spirits. She stands
with one foot resting on his chest and
the other resting on his knee. She
is naked with the exception of q grid le
of skeleton hands and a necklace of
skulls. She has four arms; in one she
holds the head Of q giant by the hair:
in another she holds the scimitar with