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Show Sr-; M i India Supreme as Land of Idolatry It seems hard to bcllcvo that in this civilized dny there should exist anywhere any-where such preiKisterous nbsurdltles as aro practiced In India In the namo of religion. Although Knglnnd has ruled here for moro than a century, and tho missionary societies havo spent upwnrd of a hundred million gold dollars In trying to mnko converts con-verts to Chrlstlnnlty, the mass of the people still adhere to the ridiculous practices of the ancients. We find them worshiping snakes and monkeys and held In awe by the falso pretenses pre-tenses of charlatans and sorcerers. Although the message of tho Nnzar-ene Nnzar-ene hns gone nfar, It has affected In-din In-din so little that tho dead are still burned on tho banks of tho snored 1 .iisisBisiiiiiiMHHHHHHiVHHHHHMisvliRK Fort and Temple of Akbar. river or left In towers for tho vultures to devour. The sacrificial goat Is tethered In the temple ynrd as In the days of the patriarchs, nnd tho people aro held In subjection by tho fear that tho priests will pronounce curses upon them similar sim-ilar to that which the Scriptures tell us Noah visited upon his son Hnm. Superstition Is so rife that when a Hindu Btnrts to work in tho morning, If his path Is crossed by a cat or n snako or u jnckal he considers It an evil omen nnd Is quite likely to postpone post-pone the business until another day. Laborers frequently return from tho field nnd put up their oxen for no other reason than this. Crazy Acts of Votaries. Tho belief that generosity nnd phy-Hlcal phy-Hlcal ordeal nre tho means of winning the favor of the gods Is so general gen-eral thnt mnny worshipers give themselves them-selves over to disgusting and ridiculous ridicu-lous nets of fnnntlcism. Tho forms this religious frenzy takes nro Innumerable, Innu-merable, Sometimes u votary will vow to sit still In a chnlr for six months, while another will measuro his length along tho ground for miles In token of his submission to somo particular Idol. There aro others who have held ono arm lu tho air 'over their heads for years, until the Joints bScnmo stiff nnd tho uncut Wlls curved inward and grew through tbclr hands. Somo will fasten their Jaws together with wlro and tnko no food Into the mouth except In liquid form. Enthusiasts nre often met who havo vowed to leavo their hair untouched un-touched for months. Thcso present a disgusting sight, as their tangled shocks aro one mass of filth and vermin. ver-min. Somo vow to go naked In order to show their devotion, nnd thoro nro even Instances whoro a misguided Pearl Mosque at Agra. fauatlc has cut off halt his tongue and offered It to an Idol all In tho namo of religion. Observing the PuJa. The religious festivals called Pujas are observed with n sentiment which ippronches raving nrdor. During tho ,lmo of theso demonstrations tho entire en-tire population rcfrulnB from work and gives Itself over to unmitigated carousals. Tho program consists of erecting an Imogo of some particular Idol, to which offerings of ovory sort aro given and sacrifices of goats aro made. After the Imago has been properly feted on land, tho rovelers form a procession on the bnnk of tho river, where an excursion on tho water follows. fol-lows. After this tho Idol Is dumped overboard, thus passing theoretically to paradise. One of the popular deities Is Durga, tho ten-armed goddess, carrying In her numerous hands ns many differ ent weapons, viz.: sword, dagger, lance, stiletto, snw, cleaver, knife, boomerang, tomnhawk nnd screw driver. Durga Is really a number ol images joined In ono group, among thorn being a son who Is a war deity and another who Is financial secretary secre-tary to tho gods. Tho group Includes tho birds nnd nnlmnls which tho gods ride. Tho goddess herself is seated on n Hon, while the wnr god bestrides a gorgeous peafowl, and tho financial secretary n rascally rat. This rat is called a rascal becauso ho has tho unfortunato habit of eating nil tho rainbow gems which aro snld to bo hatched by the peafowls which his brother rides. A Glimpse of Barbarism. The sceno of one of the Pujas Is a glimpse of ancient barbarism. Around tho Imago aro the prostrate supplicants, suppli-cants, tho women prnylrg for male children and the men asking the favor fa-vor of tho destruction of their enemies. ene-mies. Tho offerings consist of piles of fruit and vegetables, bundles of cloth, pyramids of sqaked rlco. hillocks hill-ocks of peas and coconnuts, and hundreds hun-dreds of candles burning In broad day. on the outer circle dogs sit on their haunches and cats lick their mustaches nt tho sight of the tempting tempt-ing things piled In such profusion. Clouds of Inccnso smoke drift upward up-ward nnd tho ground Is stnlncd with tho blood of tho goats whose heads havo fallen under tho sncrlflclnl sword. Abovo tho bedlam of voices Is heard tho metallic crash of hug bells and the thump of drums. The goats aro beheaded ono after th other by an Immense butcher who Is ns black and flcrco ns tho Duko ol Thundcrland. Ills namo Is Rama kantnnkamnr, which rends tho saint backward or forward. Ho uses a fresh sword to dispatch each goat Tho Idol Is twenty feet In helghl and Is carried to tho river bank on tho bucks of sixty bearers. Tho barge which conveys It to tho mlddlo of the stream Is surrounded by fully two thousand row boats. As tho motley flotilla drifts on tho tiro tho uproat continues. Shouts and songs and Jests nro bandied back and fortb until tho echoes ring with tho discord Finally tho unwieldy Imago Is toppled Into tho wntcr, and tho long orgy Is brought to an end. Such Idolatrous scenes as this leavo an unplcnsant Impression on tho mind of tho spectator. Tho bleating bleat-ing goats struggling in tho hands ot their gory executioners, tho unennny sounds of paganism and tho shining ' faces ot tho half-crazed fanatics swarming mound their gaudy Idol, mnko ono wonder If tho real reason for India's misery and degradation Is not tho dlsobedlcnco of tho dlvlno command: "Thou shalt hnvo nono othor gods hut Me. Thou shnlt not make to thyself any gravon Imnga . . . for I tho Ixird thy God os a jealous God, and visit tho sins of tho fathers upon tho children, unto tho third and fourth generation of them that hato mo." Fredorlc J. Haskln In Los Angeles Times. |
