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Show ijg M India Supreme as Land of Idolatry It seems hard to believe that in this civilized day thero should exist anywhere any-where such prcosterous nbsurdltlcs as arc practiced In India In the name of religion. Although England has ruled hero for more than a century, and the mlsstonnry societies havo spent upward of u hundred million gold dollnrs In trying to mnko converts con-verts to Christianity, tho mass of the people still adhere to the ridiculous practices of the ancients. Wo find them worshiping snakes and monkeys and held In awe by the fnlso pretenses pre-tenses of charlatans and sorcerers. Although the message of tho Nnzar-enc Nnzar-enc has gone afar, It has affected India In-dia so little that tho dead are still burned on the banks of the sacred river or left in towers for tho vultures to devour. The sacrificial goat Is tethered In tho temple ynrd as In the days of the patriarchs, and the people aro held In subjection by the fear thnt tho priests will pronounce curses upon them similar sim-ilar to thnt which the Scriptures tell us Noah visited upon his son Ham. Superstition Is so rife that when a Hindu starts to work In tho morning, if ills path Is crossed by a cat or n Bnako or n jackal he considers It an evil omen and Is quite llkoly to postpone post-pone the business until another day. (Laborers frequently return from tho field and put up their oxen for no other reason tlinn this. Crazy Acts of Votaries. Tho belief that generosity nnd physical phy-sical ordeal are tho means of winning tho favor of the gods Is so general gen-eral thnt many worshipers glvo themselves them-selves over to disgusting nnd ridiculous ridicu-lous acts of fanaticism. Tho forms this religious frenzy takes aro Innumerable. Innu-merable. Sometimes a votary will vow to sit still in a chair for six months, whilo another will mcasuro his length nlong the ground for miles in token of his submission to somo particular Idol. Thero nro others who have held one arm lu tho air :over tholr hends for years, until the Joints bScnmo stiff nnd tho uncut "nails curved Inward and grew through their hands. Somo will fasten their jaws together with wlro nnd tnko no food into tho mouth except in liquid form. Enthusiasts are often met who havo vowed to leave their hair untouched un-touched for months. These present n disgusting sight, ns their tangled shocks nro ono mnss of filth and vermin. ver-min. Some vow to go naked In order to show their devotion, nnd there nro even Instances where a misguided 01 A4 whero an excursion on tho water follows. fol-lows. After this the Idol Is dumped overboard, thus passing theoretically to paradise. One of tho popular deities Is Durga, tho ten-armed goddess, carrying in her numerous hands ns many differ ent wenpons, viz.: sword, dngger, lance, stiletto, saw, cleaver, knife boomerang, tomahawk and screw driver. Durga Is really a number ol Images Joined In one group, among them being a son who is a war deity and another who Is financial secretary secre-tary to the gods. Tho group includes tho birds and animals which tho gods rldo. The goddess herself Is scntcd on n Hon, whilo the war god bestrides a gorgeous peafowl, nnd tho financial 1 Fort and Temple of Akbar. Pearl Mosque at Agra. fanatic has cut off half his tongue and o fie rod It to an Idol all In tho namo of religion. Observing the Puja. The religious festivals called Pujas aro observed with a sentiment which ipproacheH raving ardor. During tho .lino of theso demonstrations tho entire en-tire population refrains from work and gives itself over to unmitigated carousals. Tho program consists of erecting nn Imago of somo particular Idol, to which offerings of evory sort nro given and sacrifices of goats aro made. After the imago has been properly feted on land, tho revelers form n procession on tho bnnk of tho river, secretary a rascally rat. This rat Is called a rascal becauso ho has tho unfortunate hnblt of eating all tho rainbow gems which aro said to bo hatched by the peafowls which his brother rides. A Glimpse of Barbarism. The scene of one of tho Pujas Is a glimpse of ancient barbarism. Around tho Imago are the prostrate supplicants, suppli-cants, tho women praying for malo children and the men nsktng the favor fa-vor of tho destruction of their enemies. ene-mies. Tho offerings consist of plies of fruit and vegetables, bundles of cloth, pyramids of soaked rlco, hillocks hill-ocks of peas and coconnuts, and hundreds hun-dreds of candles burning in broad day. On the outer circlo dogs sit on their haunches and cats lick their mustaches at tho sight of the tempting tempt-ing things piled In such profusion. Clouds of incenso smoko drift upward up-ward and tho ground Is stnlncd with tho blood of tho gouts whoso heads havo fallen under tho sacrificial sword. Above tha bedlam of voices Is heard tho metallic crash of lingo bells and tho thump of drums. Tin goats nro beheaded ono nftor the other by an lmmcnso butcher who 1: ns black nnd fierce ns tho Duko ol Thundcrlnnd. His namo Is Rama kantnnkamnr, which reads tho snra( backward or forward. Ho uses a fresh sword to dispatch each goat The Idol Is twenty feet in height and is cnrrlcd to tho river bank on tho hacks 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 llotllla drifts on tho tiro tho uproai continues. Shouts and songs nnd Jests nro bandied back and forth until tho echoes ring with the discord Finally tho unwieldy Imago Is toppled Into tho water, nnd tho long orgy Is brought to nn end. Such Idolatrous sccnos as thin leave an unpleasant Impression on tho mind of tho spectator. Tho bleating bleat-ing goats struggling In tho hands ot their gory executioners, tho uncanny sounds of paganism and tho shining faces of tho half-crazed fanatics swarming around tholr gaudy Idol, mnko ono wonder If tho real reason for India's mlsory nnd degradation Is not tho disobedience) of tho dlvlno command: "Thou shnlt havo none other gods but Mo. Thou shalt not mako to thyself nny graven image ... for I tho Lord thy God ns a jealous God, and visit tho sins of tho fathers upon tho chlldron, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hato mo," Frederic J. Haskln In Los Angeles Times. |