chap. xi JAGANNATH 177
in
fulfilment of their vows, taxes each one according to his means, of
which he is very exactly informed. Thus he receives enormous sums, from
which he himself derives no profit, all being expended on the feeding
of the poor and the support of the pagoda. The Grand Brahman
distributes each day to the pilgrims whatever food is required,
consisting of butter, milk, rice, and flour ; but to the poor, who are
in want of utensils to cook their food with, it is given ready cooked.1 It
is a surprising thing, and well worthy of notice, to observe how the
food is distributed to the poor people who have no pots. In the morning
the rice is cooked in earthen pots of different sizes, and when the
hour has come when the poor pilgrims come for food, if, for example,
there are five, the chief Brahman orders another Brahman to take a pot
full of cooked rice, which he lets fall, and the pot is broken into
five equal parts, of which each pilgrim takes one, and likewise in
proportion, more or less, according to the number of people who present
themselves to receive their shares. The Brahmans never cook twice in
the same earthen pot, but frequently use copper pots, and they have for
plates certain leaves larger than our walnut leaves,2 which
are stitched together. They use, however, a kind of dish about a foot
in diameter to melt butter, in which they dip the rice with their
fingers when eating, and a small ladle for the melted butter, which is
drunk as we drink a glass of Spanish wine after a repast.
I
come now to a more detailed description of the idol on the altar of the
pagoda of Jagannath. It is covered from the neck to the base with a
grand mantle which hangs on the altar, and this mantle is of gold or
silver brocade according to the nature of the ceremonies. At first this
idol had neither feet nor hands, and this is how this fact is
explained. After one of their prophets was taken up into heaven, when
they were all plunged in tears and lamentation at losing him, God sent
to them from heaven an angel like the prophet, whom they treated with
great honour and respect. But while
1 This is a distorted version of the distribution of the consecrated food to the pilgrims. See Hastings, op. cit., vii. 464 f. ; Hunter, i. 146. The same custom prevails at other Vaishnava shrines (Mrs. S. Stevenson, Rites of the Twice-born, 317). a See ii. 60 above.
