The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-03-04
WHY THIS STORY
DIDN'T GET A
HEADLINE

Indian police and a mob of ten
thousand natives was not played
up.' in American newspaper head
lines. The name of the town where
the disturbances occurred was Tir-
uvannalnallai.
This tow, is one OF the chief
pilgrim cenacrs OF South India but
is little visited by Europeans" eX-
plains q bulletin from the Wash
ington,- d. c.. headquarters. Of The
Nation;ef Geographic Society. This
ostracism is NOT because the oc>i-
dental cannot pronounce the uanlt.
70 ask his. way. as one way :lua-
gests. Tiruvannamallai has forty
large chutirams. or rest houses,
while the only provision; for the
foreigner is snlall bungalow Of
two rooms.
Two great festivals every GEAR
and q fair every Tuesday assure t;le
gathering Of lalge numbers Of ma
tives." the bulletin continues. Dur
ing the kartigai festival in Neve.n-
Der or December, 700. 900 pilgrims
visit the finely. carved temple or
climb the Holy Fire Hin' which
gives the town its name. At such
times, cholera frequently takes a
heavy roll and for Inans years at
tempts have been made TO Improve
the water supply.
A. Cross roads of Religion a:sfs
( Trade
sFoua, reads meet 1t TifuTanna-'
mallai. three Of them. crossing the
alluxial plain toward the north.
soath ard east The fourth road
carries q heavy traffic over the
Chegana Pass into the Salem Dis
trie1. Thus the town is not only
a Janus religious center but an I'M
.portant .entrepot OF trade as Well
..Soanh 4reot, the district IN
which Tiru.vannamallai is found,
sweeps. up from the harborless Cor
enanGer coast fronting on the Bay
OF Bengalte the Eastern Chats the
hills which mark the fall line be-
tween the plain and the plateau
whichl. drives south like Il wedge
from. the; Deccan and splits Mad
ress Presidency into two widely
dissini,as regions. Great expanses
OF reserved forests elothe these hills
and the sandaiwoed and teak fo,t.ad
there form some OF the. most in
pos1anr assets OF the region. Leop-
ards. small bears, deer and Wild
hogs abound. and there. are several
favorite shooting grounds near at
hand.
Although the: district is. usually
comparatively dry, it is subject TO
destructive floods and the severe
storms which sweep the. coast haze
done great damage. not only TO the
hopless natives but TO shipping as
we'll. In 1850 a blockadins fleet.
operating against the French,
whose capital city. Pondicheary,
cuts, into; the District, was scatter
ed with considerable loss OF life.
When the Sun Went: Out =
but the main, interest in Tir-
i,vannamallail is rae. fire festival:
whose, reception recalls one OF the
famous legends connected with
HInde mythology. Many ages
ago. the legend runs, Ska, the de-
;streyer, and, his wife Parvati We're
wandering through kailasa. the
Hindu paradise. It was the twi-
light hour and the flowe, e9rden IN
which they strolled: was filled with
the, seductive perfumes 2of the
East. In a flirratious. moment:
Pavati pIayfnlly covered the eyes
of her lord with her shapely hands
and drew the godly head to her
bosom.
The time quickly passed for
these. TWO wanderers in Elysium.
But what seemed but, moment TO
them was period; Of many years
for the. l,aplcss inhabitants Of. the
world whose sum and moon had
thus been darkened. When silva
realized the hardship which his
:wife's coqaetry had caused, he sent
her; forth TO do penance st the yaE-
ious holy places with which the
southern per.ior Of india is dc1-
ted. When she at last reached
.riruvannanIallai. the famous Holy
Fire Kill' of South Arcot district.
silva appeared at the top Of ri!e. $50
fated peak, as q. sign that his wife, s
'toousht,essness, was forgiven.
...A1 the. foot of the hill. jtter out
side the chief town Of the region.
lies the. fine temple of TirilNaHna-
n1allai: It,is to. this place t'';,: the
pilgrims flock on the occasion ef
the festival which commemorafes
the reconciliation OF their chief
god and goddess. The eliminating
feature of tho celebration. is the
lighting blythe priesta Of Il beacon
fire on tho summit of the h!tl.
which can be seen for many miles
throughout the district.
C'anIpher and Butter Feed Bcafon
so heavy is the rush Of pill
grims 10 see the blaze on the@sam-
NIT that strict police control IS
needed throughout the rs hours
that the: fire usually burns. Cam
phor and clarified butter or Shee.
brought as offerings by the pill
grins. make up 4 large part OF the
fuel. The festival, which lasts for
ten DAYS. ends with this sarriiiclal
lire Which commcmorates the for
g.vencss Of p:trvati by silva ana
the return Of light 10 a darkened
world.
The large silva temple is am";ls
the most interesting in South :n'sia
for. from the slopes Of the sacred