A Woman's Journey Round the World Part 22

"Their true and only G.o.d is called 'Brahma,' which must not be confounded with Brahma who was created by the former, who is the true, eternal, holy, and unchangeable light of all time and s.p.a.ce.

The wicked are punished and the good rewarded.

"Out of the Eternal Being proceeded the G.o.ddess Bhavani, i.e., Nature, and a host of 1,180 million spirits. Among these there are three demi-G.o.ds or superior spirits, Brahma, Vishnu, and s.h.i.+va, the Hindoo Trinity, called by them Trimurti.

"For a long time, happiness and content prevailed; but they afterwards revolted, and many gave up their allegiance. The rebels were cast down from on high into the pit of darkness. Hereupon succeeded the transmigration of souls; every animal and every plant was animated by one of the fallen angels, and the remarkable amiability of the Hindoos towards animals is owing to this belief.

They look upon them as their fellow-creatures, and will not put any of them to death.

"The Hindoo reverences the great purpose of nature, the production of organized bodies, in the most disinterested and pious manner.

Everything tending to this end is to him venerable and holy, and it is in this respect alone that he wors.h.i.+ps the Lingam.

"It may be affirmed, that the superst.i.tions of this creed have only gradually become an almost senseless delusion through corruption and misunderstanding.

"In order to judge of the present state of their religion, it will be sufficient to describe the figures of a few of their chief deities.

"Brahma, as the creator of the world, is represented with four human heads and eight hands; in one hand he holds the scriptures, in the others, various idols. He is not wors.h.i.+pped in any temple, having lost this prerogative on account of his ambitious desire to find out the Supreme Being. However, after repenting of his folly, it was permitted that the Brahmins might celebrate some festivals in his honour, called Poutsche.

"Vishnu, as the maintainer of the world, is represented in twenty- one different forms:--Half fish half man, as tortoise, half lion half man, Buddha, dwarf, etc. The wife of Vishnu is wors.h.i.+pped as the G.o.ddess of fruitfulness, plenty, and beauty. The cow is considered sacred to her.

"s.h.i.+va is the destroyer, revenger, and the conqueror of Death. He has, therefore, a double character, beneficent or terrible; he rewards or punishes. He is generally hideously represented, entirely surrounded by lightning, with three eyes, the largest of which is in the forehead; he has also eight arms, in each of which he holds something.

"Although these three deities are equal, the religion of the Hindoos is divided into only two sects--the wors.h.i.+ppers of Vishnu and those of s.h.i.+va. Brahma has no peculiar sect, since he is denied temples and paG.o.das; however, the whole priestly caste--the Brahmins--may be considered as his wors.h.i.+ppers, since they affirm that they proceeded from his head.

"The wors.h.i.+ppers of Vishnu have on their foreheads a red or yellowish painted sign of the Jani; the s.h.i.+va wors.h.i.+ppers, the sign of the Lingam, or an obelisk, triangle, or the sun.

"333,000,000 subordinate deities are recognised. They control the elements, natural phenomena, the pa.s.sions, acts, diseases, etc.

They are represented in different forms and having all kinds of attributes.

"There are also genii, good and evil spirits. The number of the good exceeds that of the bad by about 3,000,000.

"Other objects are also considered sacred by the Hindoos, as rivers, especially the Ganges, which is believed to have been formed from the sweat of s.h.i.+va. The water of the Ganges is so highly esteemed, that a trade is carried on in it for many miles inland.

"Among animals, they chiefly look upon the cow, ox, elephant, ape, eagle, swan, peac.o.c.k, and serpent, as sacred; among plants, the lotus, the banana, and the mango-tree.

"The Brahmins have an especial veneration for a stone, which is, according to Sonnerat, a fossil ammonite in slate.

"It is in the highest degree remarkable that there is no representation of the Supreme Being to be found in all Hindostan.

The idea appears too great for them; they consider the whole earth as his temple, and wors.h.i.+p him under all forms.

"The adherents of s.h.i.+va bury their dead; the others either burn them or throw them into the river."

No one can form an accurate idea of India who has not gone beyond Calcutta. This city has become almost European. The palaces, the equipages are European; there are societies, b.a.l.l.s, concerts, promenades, almost the same as in Paris or London; and if it was not for the tawny natives in the streets, and the Hindoo servants in the houses, a stranger might easily forget that he was in a foreign country.

It is very different in Benares. The Europeans are isolated there; foreign customs and manners everywhere surround them, and remind them that they are tolerated intruders. Benares contains 300,000 inhabitants, of which scarcely 150 are Europeans.

The town is handsome, especially when seen from the river side, where its defects are not observed. Magnificent rows of steps, built of colossal stones, lead up to the houses and palaces, and artistically built gateways. In the best part of the town, they form a continuous line two miles in length. These steps cost enormous sums of money, and a large town might have been built with the stones employed for them.

The handsome part of the town contains a great number of antique palaces, in the Moorish, Gothic, and Hindoo styles, many of which are six stories high. The gates are most magnificent, and the fronts of the palaces and houses are covered with masterly arabesques and sculptured work; the different stories are richly ornamented with fine colonnades, verandahs, balconies, and friezes.

The windows alone did not please me; they were low, small, and seldom regularly arranged. All the houses and palaces have very broad sloping roofs and terraces. The innumerable temples afford a proof of the wealth and piety of the inhabitants of this town.

Every Hindoo in good circ.u.mstances has a temple in his house, i.e., a small tower, which is frequently only twenty feet high.

The Hindoo temples consist properly of a tower thirty or sixty feet in height, without windows, and having only a small entrance. They appear, especially at a distance, very striking and handsome, as they are either artistically sculptured or richly covered with projecting ornaments, such as pinnacles, small columns, pyramids, leaves, niches, etc.

Unfortunately, many of these beautiful buildings are in ruins. The Ganges here and there undermines the foundations, and palaces and temples sink into the soft earth or fall entirely down. Miserable little huts are in some places built upon these ruins, and disfigure the fine appearance of the town, for even the ruins themselves are still beautiful.

At sunrise, a spectacle is to be seen at the river which has not its counterpart in the world. The pious Hindoos come here to perform their devotions; they step into the river, turn towards the sun, throw three handsful of water upon their heads, and mutter their prayers. Taking into account the large population which Benares contains, besides pilgrims, it will not be exaggeration to say that the daily number of devotees amounts, on the average, to 50,000 persons. Numbers of Brahmins sit in small kiosks, or upon blocks of stone on the steps, close to the water's edge, to receive the charity of the wealthy, and grant them absolution in return.

Every Hindoo must bathe at least once in the day, and particularly in the morning; if he is pious and has time, he repeats the ceremony again in the evening. The women bathe at home.

At the time of the festival called Mala, when the concourse of pilgrims is innumerable, the steps are crowded with ma.s.ses of human beings, and the river appears as if covered with black spots from the number of the bathers' heads.

The interior of the city is far less handsome than that portion which extends along the Ganges. It contains many palaces; but these have not the same beautiful gateways, colonnades, and verandahs as those already described. Many of these buildings are covered with fine cement, and others are painted with miserable frescoes.

The streets are for the most part both dirty and ugly, and many of them are so narrow, that there is scarcely room for a palanquin to pa.s.s. At the corner of almost every house stands the figure of the G.o.d s.h.i.+va.

Among the temples in the town, the handsomest is the "Bisvishas:" it has two towers connected by colonnades, with their summits covered with golden plates. The temple is surrounded by a wall, but we were allowed to enter the fore-court, and to go as far as the entrance.

We saw inside several images of Vishnu and s.h.i.+va, wreathed with flowers, and strewn over with grains of rice, wheat, etc. Small bulls of metal or stone stood in the porch, and living white bulls (of which I counted eight) wandered about at liberty. The latter are considered sacred, and are allowed to roam where they please, and are not prevented from satisfying their hunger with even the sacrificial flowers and corn.

These sacred animals do not remain in the temples only--they wander about the streets; and the people turn reverently out of their way, and frequently give them fodder. They do not, however, allow them to eat the corn exposed for sale, as was formerly the case. If one of the sacred animals happen to die, it is either thrown into the river or burnt. They receive in this respect the same honour as the Hindoos themselves.

In the temple, there were men and women who had brought flowers, with which they decorated the images. Some of them also laid a piece of money under the flowers. They then sprinkled them over with Ganges' water, and strewed rice and other corn about.

Near the temple are the most holy places in the town, namely--the so-called "holy well" and the Mankarnika, a large basin of water.

The following anecdote is told of the former:--

When the English had conquered Benares, they planted a cannon before the entrance of the temple to destroy the image of the G.o.d Mahadeo.

The Brahmins, greatly indignant at this, instigated the people to revolt, and they hastened in numerous crowds to the temple. The English, to prevent a disturbance, said to the people: "If your G.o.d is stronger than the Christian G.o.d, the b.a.l.l.s will not hurt him; but if not, he will be broken to pieces." Of course; the latter was the result. The Brahmins, however, did not give up their cause, but declared that they had seen the spirit of their G.o.d leave the idol before the cannon was fired, and plunge into the spring near at hand. From this time the spring was considered sacred.

The Mankarnika is a deep basin, paved with stone, about sixty feet long, and of equal breadth; broad steps lead from the four sides into the water. A similar tradition, but connected with the G.o.d s.h.i.+va, is attached to this place. Both deities are said to have continued to reside in these waters down to the present day. Every pilgrim who visits Benares must, on his arrival, bathe in this holy pool, and, at the same time, make a small offering. Several Brahmins are always present to receive these gifts. They are in no way distinguished by their dress from the bulk of the better cla.s.ses, but the colour of their skin is clearer, and many of them have very n.o.ble features.

Fifty paces from this pool, on the banks of the Ganges, stands a remarkably handsome Hindoo temple, with three towers.

Unfortunately, the ground sunk in a few years since, and the towers were thrown out of their proper position: one inclines to the right and the other to the left; the third is almost sunk into the Ganges.

Among the thousand of other temples, there is here and there one which is worth the trouble of a cursory inspection, but I would not advise any one to go much out of their way on their account. The place for burning the dead is very near the holy pool. When we went there, they were just roasting a corpse--the mode of burning cannot be described by any other name, the fire was so small, and the corpse projected over on all sides.

Among the other buildings, the Mosque Aurang Zeb is most worthy of the notice of travellers. It is famous on account of its two minarets, which are 150 feet high, and are said to be the slenderest in the world. They look like two needles, and certainly are more deserving of the name than that of Cleopatra at Alexandria. Narrow winding staircases in the interior lead to the top, upon which a small platform, with a bal.u.s.trade a foot high, is erected. It is fortunate for those who are not subject to dizziness. They can venture out, and take a bird's-eye view of the endless sea of houses, and the innumerable Hindoo temples; the Ganges also, with its step quays, miles long, lies exposed below. I was told that on very clear, fine days, a distant chain of mountains was perceivable-- the day was fine and clear, but I could not see the mountains.

The observatory is a very remarkable and artistic building. It was built by Dscheising, under the intelligent Emperor Akbar, more than two centuries since. There are no ordinary telescopes to be found there: all the instruments are constructed of ma.s.sive blocks of stone. Upon a raised terrace, to which stone steps lead, stand circular tables, semicircular and quadratic curves, etc. which are covered with signs, writing, and lines. With these instruments, the Brahmins made, and still make, their observations and calculations.

We met with several Brahmins busily engaged with calculations and written treatises.

Benares is on the whole the chief seat of Indian learning. Among the Brahmins, 6,000 in number, I was told there were many who give instruction in astronomy, Sanscrit, and other scientific subjects.

The sacred apes are another of the curiosities of Benares. Their princ.i.p.al location is upon some of the immense mango-trees in the suburbs of Durgakund. The animals seemed as if they knew we had come to see them, for they approached quite close to us; but when the servant, whom I had sent for some food for them, returned, and called them to him, it was amusing to see the merry creatures come running from the trees, the roofs of the houses, and the streets.

We were in a moment closely surrounded by several hundreds, who fought together in the most comical manner for the fruits and grain.

The largest or oldest acted as commander. Wherever there was quarrelling, he rushed in, and commenced thras.h.i.+ng the combatants, threatening them with his teeth, and making a muttering sound, upon which they immediately separated. It was the largest and most comical party of monkeys I ever saw. They were generally more than two feet high, and their skins were a dirty yellow colour.

My kind host took me one day to Sarnath (five miles from Benares), where there are some interesting ruins of three remarkably ma.s.sive towers. They are not particularly high, and stand upon three artificially raised mounds, a mile distant from each other. Both the mounds and towers are constructed of large bricks. The largest of these towers is still covered in many places with stone slabs, on which traces of arabesques are here and there visible. Numbers of slabs lie scattered about the ground. There are no signs of any such covering on the remaining towers. In each there is a small door and a single apartment.

Excavations were commenced beneath these towers by the English government in the hope of making some discoveries which would throw light upon the origin of these buildings; but nothing was found beyond an empty underground vault.