THE FESTIVAL OF JUGGERNAUT.

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chariot, with the idol, is also drawn with the greatest and best men of the town; and they are so greedy and eager to draw it, that whosoever, by shouldering, crowding, shoving,

heaving, thrusting, or in any insolent way, can but lay a hand upon the rope, they think themselves blessed and happy; and when it is going along the city, there are many that

will offer themselves as a sacrifice to this idol, and desperately lie down on the ground, that the chariot-wheels may run over them, whereby they are killed outright; some get broken arms, some broken legs, as that many of them are so destroyed; and by this means they think to merit heaven."

Another of the earlier writers on this subject states that many persons lie down in the track of the car a few hours before it starts, and, taking a powerful dose of opium, or "bhang," i.e. Indian hemp, meet death while still unconscious.

In former days the annual assemblage at the temple of Juggernaut, which is to the Hindoos what Mecca is to the Mahommedans, was astonishing, a million and a half of pilgrims having been considered as the average number. Putting aside the comparative few who perished under the wheels of the great car (for, indeed, had the whole road been paved with human bodies, they would have been but a few), the number that died from privation and suffering was dreadful.

We know by many a sad experience how difficult it is to feed a large army, even with the great advantage of discipline on the part of the commissariat and the recipients. It is, therefore, easy to see how terrible must be the privation when a vast multitude, quadruple the number of any army that ever took the field, arrives simultaneously from all directions at a place where no arrangements have been made to supply them with provisions, and where, even if the locality could furnish the requisite food, the greater number of the pilgrims are totally without money, and therefore unable to pay for food. In those days the pilgrims perished by thousands, as much victims to Juggernaut as those who were crushed under his chariot-wheels, and, indeed, suffering a far more lingering and painful death. Still, according to their belief, they died in the performance of their duty, and by that death had earned a high place in the paradise of the Hindoos.

Such was the case before the English raj was established in India. Since that time a gradual but steady diminution has taken place in the number of the pilgrims to Juggernaut's temple; and we have lately seen a most astonishing and portentous event. Formerly, the vast crowd of worshippers pressed and crowded round the cables by which the car was drawn, trying to lay but a hand upon the sacred rope. Of late years the Brahmins have found fewer and fewer devotees for this purpose, and on one occasion, in spite of all their efforts, the ropes were deserted, and the car left stationary, to get along as it could.

As to the idol Juggernaut itself, Bruton gives a curious description of it, saying that it is in shape like a serpent with seven heads, and that on the cheeks of each head there are wings which open and shut and flap about as the car moves along.

An idol in the form of a five-headed cobra is mentioned by Messrs. Tyerman and Bennett in their "Missionary Voyages." "We happened to be visiting a very handsomely-built stone temple (at Allahabad) covered with well-executed sculptures of their idols, holy persons, &c., in stone of the highest relief. In the temple were several stone idols representing the serpent-the cobra capella, or hooded snake. The largest, which represents a serpent twelve feet long, with five heads, and the heads all expanded, coiled into a sort of Gordian knot, is the principal object of worship in this temple.

"While we were looking at this stone snake, a horrid-looking man, unclothed, rushed in (he was about twenty-five years old), being covered with ashes, and his huge quantity of hair matted with mud-dust. His eyes appeared inflamed: he bowed before the serpent, then prostrated himself, afterwards respectfully touched his head, looked fixedly upon the serpent, prostrated himself again, then touched it and rushed out, as if in a paroxysm of delight at the thought of having worshipped this thing. When he got out of the temple, he walked all round within the verandah, and, having once more bowed at the door of the temple, he departed with a hurried step. We cannot conceive of any human being having more the appearance of a demoniac than this miserable creature, who, nevertheless, is regarded by the poor Hindoos as one of the holiest of men."

ANOTHER form of human sacrifice was intended, like the prostration under Juggernaut's car, to take the devotee to Paradise, though by a less painful and less revolting

process.

The Ganges has always been reckoned as a most sacred stream, whose waters wash from the soul all taint of sin. There is, however, one spot, namely the confluence of the Jumna with the Ganges, which is so very sacred, that any one who dies there. must of necessity go straight to Paradise. It is evident, therefore, that the simplest plan of ensuring Paradise is to ensure death at the junction of the rivers. For this purpose the devotee entered a boat, and tied to each of his feet a chatty or earthenware jar filled with sand. The boat was rowed into mid-stream, and the devotee dropped overboard into the river. The boats used for this purpose were kept by Brahmins, who charged a fee for officiating at the sacrifice.

Sometimes the devotees managed to sacrifice themselves without the assistance of the Brahmins and their boat. They tied an empty chatty to their waists in front and behind, and, buoyed up by the empty vessels, paddled themselves with their hands until they reached the desired spot. They then scooped water into the chatties, until they were filled, and so sank, the weight of the vessels being sufficient to take them to the bottom. In like manner are corpses entrusted to the keeping of the holy river, when the relatives of the deceased are not able to afford the great expense of a funeral pile; the body is surrounded by lighted straw, so that it is scorched, and therefore considered to be purified by fire. Two chatties are then fastened to it, the relatives tow the body into mid-stream, fill the chatties with water, and allow the body to sink. What becomes of it afterwards they care nothing, and though it be devoured by the many creatures of prey which haunt the rivers in search of their loathsome food, they are perfectly satisfied with their share in its disposal.

In many cases beasts are substituted for human sacrifices. A short, stout post is fixed in the ground, and on its top is cut a deep notch, in which is received the neck of the animal, the size of the notch and height of the post being suited to the size of the victim.

Sacrifices are thus offered to Doorga, the goddess of nature, and it is of the utmost importance that the head of the victim should be severed at a single blow. This is easy enough with a lamb, or even a goat, but when a buffalo is to be sacrificed, the success of the blow is so doubtful that many ceremonies are employed to ensure its right performance. The sacrificial knife is a tremendous weapon, shaped something like a bill-hook, very broad, very heavy, and kept as sharp as a razor. When the sacrifice is to take place, the buffalo is brought to the post, which stands before the ten-armed image of Doorga, its horns are painted red, turmeric is poured over its head, water from the Ganges is sprinkled over it, and garlands of flowers are hung about its neck.

The animal is then placed so that its neck rests in the fork of the post, to which it is firmly secured by an iron bar which passes through holes in the fork, and presses its head downwards. The body is supported on a mound of earth in front of the post, and the legs are drawn apart and held by ropes, so that a movement is impossible. The sacrificer, always a man of great muscular power, then comes forward and takes the sacrificial knife from the altar before Doorga's statue, and, together with the assembled multitude, prays that strength may be given to enable him to fulfil his office.

Amid the breathless silence of the assembled worshippers, he raises the heavy blade, and with one blow drives it through the neck of the helpless victim. As the head falls to the ground, it is snatched up by the officiating Brahmins, who offer it to the goddess, while the people, in a frenzy of delight, dance round the sacrificer, embrace him, chant songs in his honour, and crown him with garlands of flowers. The body of the buffalo becomes the property of the spectators, who struggle for it until one party gains the superiority over the other, and carries off the prize. Around the blood, that lies in pools on the ground, the multitude crowd, dip their fingers in it, and daub it on their bodies and on the walls of the temple.

The goddess Doorga, to whom these sacrifices are made, is in fact Kali under another title; the former name meaning the Inaccessible, and the latter the Black One. She is represented as the wife of the Destroying God, Shiva, and as the mother of the God of War, Kartikeya. As Doorga, her many-armed figure is carved of wood, or modelled in pasteboard, and painted rose colour. She is seated cross-legged on a peacock, and surrounded

by many other deities of the multitudinous Hindoo mythology. Before her is represented a man being devoured by a nondescript beast, something like the heraldic griffin.

As soon as the sacrifice is over the goddess is supposed to depart from her image, which is then taken in procession to the Ganges, and amid the deafening shouts of the people, the blast of trumpets, and the beating of kettle-drums, is cast into the stream.

THE reader may remember that on page 780 was given a short description of a holy man who came to worship the many-headed snake-god. He was one of the Fakirs, or Jogis, i.e. ascetics, who in India are wonderfully numerous, and submit themselves to the most dreadful tortures in honour of their deities. By rights the Fakirs are Mohammedans,

though the English have been accustomed to call both the Mohammedan and Hindoo ascetics by the common title of Fakir. "Jogi "is the usual title for the Hindoo devotees, though they are divided into a number of sects, such as Bairágès, Sangasés, Gosárés, &c. In all ages, and in almost all countries, there have been religious enthusiasts, who have sought to gain the favour or propitiate the anger of the deity by voluntary suffering, but there is perhaps no country where we find so great a variety of this principle as we do in India. There are Mohammedan as well as Hindoo ascetics, and the latter have this advantage, that they need not belong to any particular caste. To describe fully the extraordinary proceedings of these men would occupy much more space than can be afforded, and we will therefore only take a few of the most characteristic examples.

One of the commonest, as well as one of the lightest, of these tortures is, to have the tongue bored with a red-hot iron. This practice used to prevail largely at Chinsurah, at the temple of the Bull-god. Under a clump of banyan trees the devotees assembled in order to inflict various tortures upon themselves, and by far the most common was that of tongue-boring. The operation was performed by a native smith, who was reckoned very skilful at it, and at certain seasons he was completely beset by applicants, doubly clamorous in the first place to have their tongues bored, and in the next to have it done as cheaply as possible. At these seasons he used to range the applicants in regular lines, and to take them in their turn, varying his fee according to their number, rank, and impatience.

A strange instance of self-torture is described by Colonel Campbell. At Colar, the birthplace of Tippoo Sultan, a man was seen marching up and down before a mosque, chanting a hymn. He was shod with a pair of wooden sandals, not tied but nailed to his feet by long iron spikes that had been driven through the sole and projected above the instep. Yet he walked with a firm unconcerned step, and chanted his measured tune as if utterly unconscious of the horrible torture which each step must have cost him.

Sometimes these devotees show their piety by making long pilgrimages to certain sacred spots, making the journey as difficult and fanciful as possible. Some will lie on the ground and roll the whole distance, while others measure the track by prostrating themselves on their faces, marking the spot where their heads lay, getting up, placing their feet on the marked spot, and then prostrating themselves again. Sometimes they will lie on their backs and push themselves along the road by their heels, thus cutting and bruising their backs terribly against the rough ground.

Some of these men practise a most extraordinary penance in honour of the goddess Doorga, a penance which in some respects resembles the initiation of the Mandans.

A stout pole, some twenty feet high, is fixed in the ground, and a long bamboo is placed horizontally over the top, on which it revolves by means of a pivot. Sometimes two or even three poles cross each other on the top of the post. Ropes hang from each end of the bamboos, and to half of them are fastened large unbarbed hooks of polished iron. The devotees having placed themselves under the bamboo, the hooks are run into their backs, and by persons hauling on the rope at the other end of the bamboo they are raised into the air. The men who hold the ropes then run in a circle, so as to swing the devotees round at a great pace, the whole weight of their bodies being borne by the hooks. While swinging they scatter flowers and other gifts among the spectators, who eagerly scramble for them, thinking they possess very great virtues.

Both men and women submit to this terrible torture, and do so for a variety of reasons. Some permit themselves to be swung in pure honour of the goddess, some do it in fulfilment of a vow, while many submit to the operation for pay, acting as substitutes of persons who have made the vow and are afraid to fulfil it personally, or who prefer honouring the goddess by deputy rather than in their own person. From one to two rupees, i.e. from two to four shillings, is considered a fair price to the substitute.

Sometimes the upright post is fastened upon an ordinary bullock-waggon, and is shorter than when it is fixed in the ground. After the hooks have been inserted, the opposite end of the bamboo is drawn down, so as to elevate the devotees some thirty feet in the air, and made fast to the waggon. The cart is then drawn as fast as possible round the enclosure by six or eight bullocks, which are harnessed to it for the occasion, and selected for their speed.

In many instances, the Jogis (pronounced Yogees) perform their penance by keeping one or more of their limbs in one attitude, until after a time it becomes incapable of motion, and the muscles almost entirely waste away. Some of these men will hold one arm stretched upwards to its fullest extent. This is done by supporting the arm by a cord when the wearied muscles refuse to uphold the limb any longer. In some instances, where the Jogi has clenched his hand, the nails have grown fairly through the hand, forced their way through the back, and hung nearly to the wrist.

A very common practice is to sit completely motionless, in which case the legs become in time totally incapable of moving, so that the man could not change his position even if he desired to do so. In some instances they even go beyond this, and manage to stand instead of sit, with scarcely any support for their bodies during sleep. One of these men is described by Mr. Williamson :

"Within a few yards of the river on our left stood one of those horrid figures called a yogee or Indian saint-a gentleman beggar, who had placed himself in a certain attitude, from which he had vowed never to swerve during the remainder of his life, but to spend his life in mental abstraction.

"He appeared on a platform of earth raised about eighteen inches from the ground, At one end of this mound (which might be seven feet long by five broad) were erected two bamboos, seven or eight feet high, and sufficiently apart for him to stand between them,