Show A joy aa NE of the oldest and most pic tur esque cities in tho the world 0 is De the largest and holiest hollest city in india it Is located on the holy river gaffes and contains about 1500 1 tern tem mosques inhabitants and many more idols than there are people f there aie a few g good streets street but the majoria majo rit of low lou castes are arc crowded into narrow dirty 1 lines ines 21 to the square mile however ciery good hindu in the world longs to lite in benares th the ground on which the city Is built Is so very holy that to ahe on it means salvation to ale on it makes sal doubly sure and even a mos los lem or a christian who mile expires within its sacred prec precincts ints has a chance to be saved I 1 most host of the temples are on the river banks with long wide flights of stairs leading to the water pilgrims pra prating ing to the sun and bath ingIn in the th holy ganges may always almas be seen and 40 times a year a religious fair Is held which it attended by thousands to celebrate the birthdays of some of the many gods at these festivals all sorts of articles are on sale and there are booths side shows merry go rounds gambling games etc not un like our own country fairs dut but there are also living saints galore and hundreds of thieves policemen sur round the shrines to protect them and keep the pushing crowd in order which they do by slapping them with big wet met towels people stay three or tour four das at these fairs sleeping on the ground at night under some so ea cred tree edans believe that to be saved they must ghe to the poor con st antly keep numberless fast daa dais 8 pray five times a day and go on a pil PH grimage to mecca alecca the hindu believes h ha has lived before his present ex istance being the direct result of his former ones at death his soul will migrate to some other body it if he should eat cat forbidden food he will next be a worm if he be should steal grain his soul will enter a moue too much meat will turn turia him into a vulture ex cess ot of perfume will make him live again as a muskrat to gain salvation he of offsets filets bad deeds by digging wells tor for the public or feasting priests or feeding ants with sugar and flour the latter being the cheapest and most popular moth meth selves on the ground a such buch as we put in zo zoos 03 vishnu i a god asua usua usually ily m nude ide of gold or sliver silver and set on a small brass plat form is bathed by his worshipers after which a piece of sandal wood is laid on his forehead and a leaf of a stored sacred plant presented flowers are glen incense burned and he Is fed with sweets which are afterward eaten by those present alil iichi i Is another god who rc receives celes buths from the people and in the hot season water Is arranged to drop con stand on his big head to keep him cool the god of luck ganeshan has tour four arms tour four hands a big deformed stomach and an elephants head nay ny one desirous of good luck in any un der taking chumbl asks ganeshan to give it to him this god Is supposed to ride nde on a rit tor for recreation which puts rodents into the sacred class and prevents their being killed therefore the counti country 3 Is overrun with them near Is ear the entrance of a city there la Is usually a big goblin a head made of r tone stone and ugly enough to frighten and keep all other evil spirits from enter ing hindus believe all their ill health and bad luck Is brought about by such spirits savages often take a big stone daub it with paint call it bhima the terrible one and worship it this god has a lake that is sacred to him in it are small strange fish believed to be lice from his body educated hindus say they do not worship images only the god the image represents dut but when an image has been carved a priest performs a special ceremony that is supposed to bring the god to live inside it from then on the image receives as all much care as it it was waa alive be being ng given food and water mater regularly placed in bed at night carefully protected from extreme heat and insects and sometimes even married to a goddess religious mendicants Mendi cants it la is estimated that there are at least 5 religious beggars in in dia called holy men cripples borri born or made are eligible to this sect and it a criminal gets into disfavor with the authorities he turns hoi man and becomes greater than they and beyond their reach these so called saints beg steal and exist like pigs yet hindus drink the water in which they have bathed their feet and are thus made holy these parasites live in sheltered corners under sacred trees and on bam A A 4 4 1 M 1 44 IV Z I 1 tw it i r ala 11 iff T am 4 i arl 7 0 4 Q y 4 91 za L jr rw r P i WASHING AWAY THEIR SINS 0 od d these deeds combined with con stint wor of the ganges will help his soul through gli the 8 trans migrations migration mulct he believes in and finally bring it to the life eternal which be pictures as a dreamless sleep leep demands blood sacrifice at the popular temple of 0 durga numberless goats are beh be headed Laded tor for chiz goddess beci listens to a prater that hat has not been preceded by a lice the goat s head Is fastened to the ground the hind legs lifted high and the head struck off with a ath one blow A priest places it at durga s feet and the body is taken home by the peti lioner to bl bi oaten eaten dura burja was mas the favorite lav goddess of thugs and thieves who a ho called her kali after offering a sacrifice somi times a human one for a er special request they gracd for or her aid in contemplated crimes great rest religious festivals to 10 this god dagh dt si are attended bj b countless thou sands of 0 pilgrims in march and au all gloat in the courtyard a kettle drum is beaten in honor boner of 0 durga near by la Is a tank dt df bater ater ver holy usual surrounded or filled ailed with monkeys hundreds of these aal mals overrun the place and as they are believed to be sacred helpers 0 of the gods hindus bow down and wor A r lp thern act lally pro th them e m boo platforms covered by umbrellas cooking utensils aud and dried dung to fuel are within arm 9 reach also a atone alone mortar and pestle for making bhang i i highly intoxicating beverage shohe principle ingredients la Is hemp bemp leaves their clothing consists of a mag betic necklace of 84 or beads made from berries and billed tears of the god shiva shit a sometimes then wear a strip of 0 white cloth but of them recently appeared in a public groces slon in Alla habad absolutely nude all da div d iv long they sll sit and mutter over books and rosaries receiving money from the public in return for hleb which they trev give blessings the tev few aho ho are sincere believe in torturing themselves thy they take ious of sl of lence liter bi ir the weight or heavy beady chains hang bang by the heels from trees fast binny das dais mutilate themselves in every possible mill build fires on all sides arid and sit beamen them until thur their ali sh Is scorched liton beds of spikes eat cat filth and dead bodies Su allowing narrow strips of cloth rainy miny ards in length and then with drawing it Is supposed to durif the hart biart when these saints die they are not burned liko like common people a hut but swathed bathed in sack flack cloth and sunk ln in th tho holy ganges indich supplies bup lles the city city with water but of course dead saints would simply make it ven holier |