Chap. II. j HINDOO EITES AND CEREMONIES. 55
the place of his destination. His brother is ahead of him, and the lady in the ad. —
rear. One woman has devoted herself under the wheels, and a shocking sight
it was. Another also intended to devote herself, missed the wheels with her Festival of
, , , , . . - Rath Jatra.
body, and had her arm broken. Three people lost then- lives m the crowd. The place swarms with fakirs and mendicants, whose devices to attract attention are, in many instances, ingenious. You see some standing for half the day on their heads, bawling all the while for alms ; some having their eyes filled with mud, and their mouths with straw ; some lying in puddles of water ; one man with his foot tied to his neck, another with a pot of fire on his belly, and a third enveloped in a network made of rope."
When the question is asked, At whose instigation, and for whose benefit is "^JJ^J^" g^ai!- this monstrous festival celebrated? the answer must be. That of the Brahmins, minsinthe
festival.
who are maintained in idleness and luxury on the endowments of the temple, and the immense revenue obtained by levying a pilgrim tax. Upwards of 8000 of their families subsist in this way, and manage to have not only lodging, but also board, free of expense. The appetite of the idol is so insatiable that he eats fifty-two times a day, and gives sufficient occupation to nearly 400 cooks. It is needless to say that their cookery goes to other mouths than that of Juggernaut, and that the voluntary presents of rice which pilgrims are en- couraged to make as a means of propitiating his favour, besides sufficing for the' ]Driests, leaves a surplus, which, deriving additional value from having been conse- crated, finds numerous and eager purchasers. Even such palpable imposture suf- fices not to satisfy the Brahminical avarice, and votaries are allured to the temple by means of a far more disgracefiil nature. Among the regular attendants of the temple are 120 dancing girls. The nature of their employment is thus explained by Dubois: — " The service they perform consists of dancing and singing. The first they execute with grace, though with lascivious attitudes and motions. Their chanting is generally confined to the obscene songs which relate to some circumstance or other of the licentious lives of their gods. They perform these religious duties at the temple to which they belong twice a day — morning and evening. They are also obliged to assist at all the public ceremonies, which they enliven with their dance and merry song. As soon as their public business is over, they open their cells of infamy, and convert the temple of worship into a den of licentiousness."
In reading such descriptions as the above, one would fain forget how closely Connectiou
_ of the
connected the British government once, was with this very temple. When, in British the course of conquest, the territory in which it was situated became an integral ^tMt™^" part of our Indian empire, it was necessary that some precautions should be taken against the disturbance of the public peace, by the vast crowds brought together from all parts of the country to celebrate the festivals. Had the East India Company, acting with the consent, or rather by the direct authority of the government at home, confined themselves to interference for this purpose alone.
