|
chap, x HINDU TEMPLES IN INDIA 175
some
of them. But they defended themselves from this charge very cleverly,
saying, that if greed had caused these soldiers to die from eating the
food which had been left on the graves of their dead, they were not
responsible, as it was not for the soldiers they had left it, and that
till then among the great number whom they had interred not one of the
dead persons had ever complained of such a thing ; thus nothing more
was said about it, and the soldiers dared not meddle with them any
further.
CHAPTER XI
Concerning the most celebrated Pagodas of the Idolaters of India.
The idolaters
of India have, both in the towns and country parts, a great number of
temples, large and small, called pagodas, where they go to pray to
their gods and make offerÂings ; but many of the poor people who dwell
in the forests and mountains, far removed from villages, take a stone,
and rudely trace a nose and eyes with yellow or red colour upon it, and
all the family then worship it.1
The four most celebrated pagodas are, Jagannath, Benares, Muttra, and Tirupati,2 of each of which I shall give a separate description.
Jagannath is the name of one of the mouths of the Ganges,3 upon
which the great pagoda is built, where the Great BrahÂman, that is to
say the High Priest of the idolaters, resides. The form of the choir or
interior of this pagoda is as follows : it is similar, in proportion,
to all the others, which are built upon the same model, in the form of
a cross. The great idol on the altar of the choir * has two diamonds for his eyes and
1 For stone worship in India see Hastings, Ency. Religion and Ethics, xi. 871 ft.
* Jagrenate, Banarous, Matura, and Tripeti in the original.
3
The position of Jagannath is on the sea coast of Orissa, at Purl, which
is many miles from the nearest mouth of the Ganges. Bernier,
Tavernier's contemporary, was better informed, as in a letter to M.
Chapelain he states it was situated on the Gulf of Bengal (p. 304). For
an account and plan of the temple see Hunter, Orissa, i. 128 and Bowrey, 12 f., who calls it Jno. Gernaet.
* Of late years no European has been allowed to enter Jagannath.
|
||
|
|
||