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Show -KALI and Ffer ParkTenipie k j i UCH as the Eng--II AM ft 1 1 6 h authorities ' '?uId like to abol- Jf V1 B 1 1 ijhthe appalling In-II In-II 11 &n-Wrs'hip -.of . jLJLJ Ka!I,"Thsof - volution. thepoTJ , ' 1 ". uTaHty.'of her little shrine within jsasy peach of government govern-ment house jseerffs" to increase year by- year. Million of followers Journey; Jour-ney; every year from ail parts of Bengal to bow before the god. And the strangest part of the whole thing is that this worship is not confined to the, more, ignorant of the Hindoos., but is participated in to an equal degree by those who have had the advantage of European Euro-pean residence and education. A1-. though formerly there was a dally sacrifice of human life before Kali, since the British occupation she has had to., be satisfied with goats and sheep. But even today the sight of the dally slaying of 150 of these dumb creatures before the shrine of the insatiable goddess is one that few foreigners can stand. Kali is known to the revolutionists revolution-ists of India as the Mother; she has four arms; her hands are covered with blood; in one she holds aloft ,a dripping sword and in the other a freshly severed head; from her neck hangs a string of beads; her feet are on the body of her hus-band, hus-band, the god Siva. The temple of Kali is two aiiles from government house. You pass at one bound from Europe to Asia, for the road suddenly sud-denly assumes a tropical aspect. Cocoanut palms spring aloft out of water tanks and instead of splendid buildings yon see nothing but mud . huts thatched with grass. The avenue to the tem- i ole is a narrow lane of dark, box-like shops filled with religious re-ligious ware clay models, of the goddess,' god-dess,' garlands of marigold, the sacred flower, hideous colored col-ored prints of Kali and charms to keep away the evil eye. The pilgrims who come from . every part of Bengal to worship at this shrine find' their creature comforts in the food piled on copper dishes sweet meats and tried stuffs about which the flies swarm in hungry hordes. An evil ' .... I PMihh ft rW?V" J ' Lr-a ntV-A Ir-iil W illy 1 '? ii 1 . LJ TJ?X3 OrilCKNOW smelling place it is. No sooner do you alight from the carriage than you are beseiged by ragged unkempt men who call themselves priests and seek to prove their holiness by displaying the sacred thread worn by the Brahmans. One ruffian.. takes possession of you only 'to encounter the clamor of others, oth-ers, but after a little argument they come to terms and the latest arrivals go in Bearch of other prey. Along a narrow alley thronged with perspiring natives you reach" the shrine of the elephant-headed -god, Ganesh a little cubbyhole of stone and plaster where the god reposes in red' relief, garlanded with marigolds. Elbowing our way through the crowd we penetrate to the court of the temple of Kail, where men, women wom-en and children swarm like bees, Bcreaming and thrusting their way to the horrible shrine. The stones are stained with pools of blood that lie nean a cross-piece of wood shaped like a guillotine. It Is here that the sheep and goats are slain amid revolting scenes. The heads are collected and given to the poor, but the bodies and skins belong to the pilgrims and the priest. In the shadow of the shrine -a plain stone structure is a barren-looking barren-looking tree smeared with red paint and. from the bare branches hang hundreds of little stones tied with human hu-man hair, for women who are childless child-less worship this tree and the stones and hair are pledges of gifts If a child should be born to them. The temple itself stands In the center cen-ter small and mean to the eye. The main entrance is closed except during the early hours of the morning, but there is a 6lde door that opens Into what looks like a bottomless pit all dark and dreadful. Through this door presses a mob of men, women and children, eager to do pujah, or reverence, rev-erence, to the goddess of destruction. Only Hindoos are permitted to ascend the steps and enter the temple and others have to be content to crane their necks from the courtyard, while their priestly guides strive to press back the stream of worshippers, in order or-der to get a passing glimpse of Kali In her house of darkness. One catches a glimmer of crimson and gold through the noisome blackness of the pit that seethes with humanity. This was Kali dripping blood and puttiDg out her gold tongue. It was a relief re-lief to turn . from this hid-e hid-e o u s m u m-mery m-mery to the c ourtyard ' again where children played play-ed and older pilgrims Equated Equat-ed and ate and wreathed t h e m s e 1 ves ' with yellow garlands. Among them Was a dwarf . whom the people peo-ple urged up on our notice a gentle little creature perfectly formed and 50 years old. .If Barnum had happened upon him us would not be seeking a precarious living liv-ing in the temple of Kali, for no dwarf was ever a more real and graceful miniature min-iature of a man. As we pushed through the throng our guide pointed out the shrines of another Ganesh, a Vishnu, with ten arms and legs, and a pale Buddha, whose serene composure compos-ure looked strangely out of place In the midst of this warlike and sanguinary sangui-nary mob of deities. Each shrine has its own Brahman attendant who holds out an itching palm to visitor and pilgrim pil-grim alike. Three fakirs sat on the steps of the ghat amid cinders and ashes. "' The face of one was grey with ashes. Another An-other sat in the attitude of Buddha. ''For many years," whispered my guide, in awstricken tones, "this fakir fa-kir has not uncrossed his legs." Fakirs Fa-kirs or ascetics do this sort of penance. One will hold up an arm till It withers and becomes useless; use-less; another will stand on one leg for years and a third never rises from the ground. The faithful supply all their wants and acquire merit thereby. One of these men held his head so proud and looked at us from under level brows with the most beautiful eyes in the world. When one looked lower and saw the twisted and wizened wiz-ened legs one turned away with a shudder. He took the rupee flung to him with the most haughy air imaginable. imag-inable. It was evident that he was convinced of his holiness and Imagined that torture had lifted him far above the rest of human kind. To what depths the worship of Kali can descend will be understood when it is recalled that she was the patron goddess of the Thugs, a Hindoo sect, who devoted their HveB to highway robbery. They entered into friendly conversation with strangers on the high road- and, at a convenient moment, mo-ment, strangled them to death and made off with their goods. It is less than 60 years since the last of their number was hanged after a relentless war with the British authorities. |