Wanderings of a pilgrim in search of the picturesque, Volume 1 (of 2)

by Fanny Parkes Parlby

RELIGIOUS MENDICANTS.

The most remarkable people at this Melā are the religious mendicants; they assemble by hundreds, and live within inclosures fenced off by sticks, a little distance from the booths. These people are the monks of the East; there are two orders of them; the Gosāins, or followers of Shivŭ, and the Byragies, disciples of Vishnoo. Any Mahomedan may become a fakīr, and a Hindoo of any caste, a religious mendicant. The ashes of cow-dung are considered purifying: these people are often rubbed over from head to foot with an ashen mixture, and have a strange dirty white, or rather blue appearance. Ganges mud, cow-dung, and ashes of cow-dung, form, I believe, the delectable mixture.

The sectarial marks or symbols are painted on their faces according to their caste, with a red, yellow, white, or brown pigment, also on their breasts and arms. Their only covering is a bit of rag passed between the legs and tied round the waist by a cord or rope.

One man whom I saw this day at the Melā was remarkably picturesque, and attracted my admiration. He was a religious mendicant, a disciple of Shivŭ. In stature he was short, and dreadfully lean, almost a skeleton. His long black hair, matted with cow-dung, was twisted like a turban round his head,—a filthy jŭta[99]! On his forehead three horizontal lines were drawn with ashes, and a circlet beneath them marked in red sanders—his sectarial mark. If possible, they obtain the ashes from the hearth on which a consecrated fire has been lighted. His left arm he had held erect so long that the skin and flesh had withered, and clung round the bones most frightfully; the nails of the hand which had been kept immoveably clenched, had pierced through the palm, and grew out at the back of the hand like the long claws of a bird of prey. His horrible and skeleton-like arm was encircled by a twisted stick, the stem, perhaps, of a thick creeper, the end of which was cut into the shape of the head of the cobra de capello, with its hood displayed, and the twisted withy looked like the body of the reptile wreathed around his horrible arm. His only garment, the skin of a tiger, thrown over his shoulders, and a bit of rag and rope at his waist. He was of a dirty-white or dirty-ashen colour from mud and paint; perhaps in imitation of Shivŭ, who, when he appeared on earth as a naked mendicant of an ashy colour, was recognized as Mahadēo the great god. This man was considered a very holy person. His right hand contained an empty gourd and a small rosary, and two long rosaries were around his neck of the rough beads called mundrāsee. His flag hung from the top of a bamboo, stuck in the ground by the side of a trident, the symbol of his caste, to which hung a sort of drum used by the mendicants. A very small and most beautifully formed little gynee (a dwarf cow) was with the man. She was decorated with crimson cloth, embroidered with cowrie shells, and a plume of peacock’s feathers as a jika, rose from the top of her head. A brass bell was on her neck, and around her legs were anklets of the same metal. Numbers of fakīrs come to the sacred junction, each leading one of these little dwarf cows decorated with shells, cowries, coloured worsted tassels, peacock’s feathers, and bells. Some are very small, about the size of a large European sheep, very fat and sleek, and are considered so sacred that they will not sell them.

Acts of severity towards the body, practised by religious mendicants, are not done as penances for sin, but as works of extraordinary merit, promising large rewards in a future state. The Byragee is not a penitent, but a proud ascetic. These people bear the character of being thieves and rascals.

Although the Hindoos keep their women parda-nishīn, that is, veiled and secluded behind the curtain, the fakīrs have the privilege of entering any house they please, and even of going into the zenāna; and so great is their influence over the natives, that if a religious mendicant enter a habitation leaving his slippers at the door, the husband may not enter his own house! They have the character of being great libertines.

On this day I purchased curious old china dishes and brass circular locks of remarkable form. Also some brass idols that are scarce and very valuable. I have a large collection of idols of all sorts and sizes: some have undergone pooja for years, others are new. A native will buy a new brass idol, Gopalu, perhaps, for fourpence (two ānās); he takes it to his gooroo, or priest, who dips it in the Ganges; and having performed pooja with divers ceremonies, the spirit of the god enters the idol, upon which the gooroo receives ten or twelve rupees from the Hindoo, and restores the idol a pukkā god! Before the money was paid or the pooja performed it was nothing. Every Hindoo has some particular god whom he worships especially; he keeps his image tied up in a little bag, sometimes in his kamarband (cloth round the waist), at times in his turban, and sometimes stuck into the thatch of the roof of his house. It accompanies him wherever he goes: these little lares are seldom more than an inch, or two inches in height. When a man bathes, he takes his little god out of some corner of his attire, bathes the idol, and replaces it most carefully: to lose it is a sign of ill luck[100].

The rosary is made use of in Persia and India by Muhammadans as well as Hindoos, and appears with both to answer the same purpose. A bead is dropped through the finger and thumb at the contemplation of certain names and attributes of God, who has many appellations. The Brahmans are constantly seen with rosaries in their hands. It is remarkable that Christians, Hindoos, and Muhammadans, people so distant and distinct, should use rosaries for the same purpose.

Moor mentions,—“The thousand names of Vishnŭ and Siva are strung together in verse, and are repeated on certain occasions by Brahmans, as a sort of Litany, accompanied sometimes by the rosary; as each name is mentally recited, with the attention abstractedly fixed on the attribute, or character, that such name excites the idea of, a bead is dropped through the finger and thumb: such operation is supposed to assist and promote abstraction, an attainment that enthusiastic Hindoos think exceedingly efficacious.”

I have a short rosary which I obtained from a fakīr in Bengal with five or six small idols that had been worshipped for years: he gave the whole for a few rupees. The rosary consisted of beads of chalcedony, sulimāni stones, coral, amber, cornelian, agate, and other stones, curious and of some value.

The rosaries usually worn by the Byragies are of large rough berries, called mundrāsee; I believe they come from Madras: they are the seeds of a tree, and are sacred. They wear them of different lengths, but the beads are all of the same size. Brahmans wear them, and fakīrs are seldom without one. These long mālās are worn round the neck, falling to the knees, or over the right shoulder, and under the left arm. They exclaim, “Ram, Ram,” as they count each bead[101].

Another mālā or rosary, which is reckoned extremely holy, is always made of the wood of some sacred tree. On every head is carved the name of their warrior god Ram; and they count it, saying at every bead, “Ram, Ram.” These are made at Benares, and sold at the Melā at Prāg. They are either black and white, or pink and white. The longest I procured at the fair, contained one hundred and eight beads; the small ones, for the hand, contain only twenty-three[102]. Necklaces are also made of the babūl, and every other sort of sacred wood. The men wear them, and consider them very holy. Other rosaries are formed of the grey nut, the seed of the bonduc-tree. During the fair time, you will see turners sitting on the sands and turning these very minute wooden beads. It is remarkable that they bore the beads at the same time that they turn them, with great rapidity—bored and turned at once. The smaller the bead, the more expensive the necklace; but the utmost price amounts only to two ānās.

I also bought a mālā for a horse, which the natives say possesses great power as a charm; of what it is composed, I know not: the beads are somewhat of the shape and size of a pigeon’s egg, and opaque white, but appear not to be of glass or china. It looks well on the neck of a black horse. The natives tie one bead of this sort upon a horse’s fetlock to avert the evil eye and keep off maladies. With a whole mālā the horse must bear a charmed life!

Rosaries are counted for devotion, but oftener for good luck. The rosary counted by the prime minister during breakfast, at the King of Oude’s, consisted of pearls of enormous size. No one could be more superstitious than the Nawāb Hakīm Mehndi; doubtless he told his beads for good luck.

Pilgrims, carriers of the holy water, come in gangs from great distances to the Triveni; the processions are most picturesque, and they are very remarkable people. They carry two baskets, suspended by a bamboo over their shoulders, with a canopy above them, gaily decorated with bells and flags; these baskets contain small stumpy bottles of the thinnest green glass, having long necks; they are filled with Ganges water at the junction, and sealed with the seal of a Brahman at the Bene (bathing-place). These people travel all over the country, selling the sacred water at a high price at the distant stations. Some of the bottles are not above two inches high, others contain a quart; they are of all sizes, and the price varies accordingly. The salutation of these people on passing is, “Ram ram,” or “Bom bom mahadēo;” a pilgrim of this class is called a Kanwar Wālā. The men come for this water to place it in their houses for religious and medicinal uses, and sometimes perform a journey on the occasion of five or six months; it is also used in the English courts of justice, in administering an oath to an Hindoo.

Jan. 11th.—Some natives are at the door with the most beautiful snakes, two of them very large, and striped like tigers; the men carry them twisted round their bodies, and also round their necks, as a young lady wears a boa; the effect is good. The two tiger-striped ones were greatly admired as a well-matched pair; they are not venomous. A fine cobra, with his great hood spread out, made me shrink away as he came towards me, darting out his forked tongue.

There were also two snakes of a dun yellow colour, spotted with white, which appeared in a half torpid state; the men said they were as dangerous as the cobra. They had a biscobra; the poor reptile was quite lame, the people having broken all its four legs, to prevent its running away. They had a large black scorpion, but not so fine a fellow as that in my bottle of horrors.

The melā is very full; such beautiful dresses of real sable as I have seen to-day brought down by the Moguls for sale! Lined with shawl, they would make magnificent dressing-gowns. I have bought a Persian writing-case, and a book beautifully illuminated, and written in Persian and Arabic: the Moguls beguile me of my rupees.

We are going to a ball to-night at Mr. F⸺’s, given in honour of Lady Wm. Bentinck, who is expected to arrive this evening. The natives have reported the failure of Messrs. Mackintosh & Co., in Calcutta; I do not think it is known amongst the Europeans here; the natives always get the first intelligence; I will not mention it, lest it should throw a shade over the gaiety of the party. An officer, who got the lākh, and 60,000 rupees also in the lottery last year, passed down the river to-day, to place it in Government security; it is all gone; a note has been despatched to inform him of the failure, and save him a useless trip of eight hundred miles; he lost twenty-five thousand only a few weeks ago, by Messrs. Alexander’s failure. Lachhmī abides not in his house.

12th.—The ball went off very well, in spite of Messrs. Mackintosh’s failure being known; and people who had lost their all danced as merrily as if the savings of years and years had not been swept away by “one fell swoop!”

20th.—It is so cold to-day, I am shivering; the cocoa-nut oil in the lamps is frozen slightly; this weather is fit for England. I must get all the bricklayer’s work over before the hot winds, that I may be perfectly quiet during the fiery time of the year.

21st.—This being a great Hindoo holiday and bathing day, induced me to pay another visit to the fair. Amongst the tamāshā (sport) at the melā, was a Hindoo beggar, who was sitting upon thorns, up to his waist in water!—an agreeable amusement. One man played with his right hand on a curious instrument, called a been, while in his left hand he held two pieces of black stone, about the length and thickness of a finger, which he jarred together in the most dexterous manner, producing an effect something like castanets, singing at the same time. The passers by threw cowries, pāisa (copper coins), and rice to the man.

I purchased two musical instruments, called surinda, generally used by the fakīrs, most curious things; Hindoo ornaments, idols, china, and some white marble images from Jeypore.

Amongst other remarkable objects of worship which I beheld at the sacred spot, was one joint of the backbone of some enormous fish or animal; two great staring circular eyes were painted upon it, and the ends of the bone stood out like the stumps of amputated arms; a bit of ghuwā (red cloth) covered the lower part; and this was an image of Juggernath[103]! It had worshippers around it; rice and cowries were the offerings spread before it.

On platforms raised of mud and sand, some ten or twelve missionaries were preaching; every man had his platform to himself, and a crowd of natives surrounded each orator. Seeing one of my own servants, an Hindoo, apparently an attentive listener, I asked the man what he had heard. “How can I tell?” said he; “the English padre is talking.” I explained to him the subject of the discourse, and received for answer, “Very well; it is their business to preach, they get pāisa for so doing; what more is to be said?”

A large number of fine marble images having been brought down from Jeypore, for sale at the great fair, I sent a Rajpūt to the owner, and, after much delay and bargaining, became the possessor of the large white marble image of Gŭnéshŭ which adorns the [frontispiece]. The man had scruples with regard to allowing me to purchase the idol, but sold it willingly to the Rajpūt. In this place, I may as well describe the frontispiece. The history of Gŭnéshŭ is fully related in the Introduction; and the chaunrīs above his head of the tail of the yāk, the cow of Thibet, have been described in the Twenty-second Chapter, [page 239].

Ram, the deified hero, with his bow of marvellous power, stands on the left of the shrine; the image is carved in white marble, painted and gilt, and is twenty-one inches in height; its history is related in the Ram Leela festival, [page 108].

On the right, Krishnŭ the beloved is playing on his pipe; the figure is of black marble, sixteen inches high; his life and history will be explained hereafter, in a chapter entitled Radha Krishnŭ.

On the second step of the altar, to the right of Gŭnéshŭ, the first figure, is that of a woman supporting a five-wicked lamp in her hands, which is used in pooja. The figure is of brass, and has a handle to it. The receptacles for oil or ghee are small, and of a mystic shape; a lamp of this description is called pancharty.

Next to this figure, on the same step, are two little chirāghs (lamps), with small cotton wicks; they are lighted; the little cups are of brass. Lamps of this sort are burned before every shrine; and at the Dewālī, the temples and ghāts are illuminated with thousands of these chirāghs, which are then formed of red pottery.

Next to the lamps is a small lota, for carrying Ganges water, wherewith to bathe the idol.

Near them are two bells, which are used in pooja.

The bell (gant’ha) is essential in holy ceremonies, and is rung at certain times to scare away evil spirits. Bells are much used in and about Hindoo temples, but were rejected by Mahommedans, by order of their prophet, who deemed them relics of superstition. Those used by the Hindoos differ in make according to the deity in whose honour pooja is performed.

The bells are of brass; the handle of one of them is composed of two images of Hŭnoomān back to back; the handle of the other represents Hŭnoomān and Garuda, in the same attitude; on the top of the handle of another the holy cow is couchant.

The spouted vessel (jari) holds lustral water, and is of brass.

Next to the jari are three more lamps; and beyond them is a Nāga Linga Nandī, carved in black marble; it represents Nandī the bull kneeling and supporting a Linga on his back, in the centre of which rise Siva’s five heads,—four heads supporting the fifth,—over which protrudes the head of a snake. The exterior is beaded; a snake is within it, the tail of which nearly reaches the end of the figure. The scale is too small to allow of a distinct representation.

On the first step of the altar, at the feet of the black marble image of Krishnŭ is the bull-mouthed shell, which is considered holy, and often placed on a shrine. Shells as well as flowers are used for adornment.

The white conch shell (Sankh) has been described in the Introduction; the sankh or shŭnkhŭ, a shell conferring victory on whomsoever should sound it, was one of the fourteen articles, usually called fourteen gems, that were obtained at the churning of the sea. Shell ornaments worn by females on the wrist are prescribed by the Shastr. At the hour of death, a female leaves her ornaments to whomsoever she pleases; sometimes to her spiritual guide, or to the family priest. A person not bequeathing something to these people is followed to the next world with anathemas.

Next to the conch is a brazen lota, highly polished and engraved; it is used for Ganges water, oil, or ghee; water is always presented to bathe the idol.

The figure adjoining is a brazen image of Devi, a goddess (the term is generally applied to Doorga), but I know not of what particular goddess this is the representation. In her right hand she bears a mirror; in the left, a small lamp of mystic shape, similar to the boat-like argha. She stands upon a tortoise, which is made to contain Ganges water: the head of the tortoise unscrews, to admit the liquid. The Devi is ornamented with necklaces and bracelets; and in her ears are enormously thick ear-rings: to insert them, it is necessary to elongate the lobe of the ear; and having cut in it a slit nearly an inch in length, the end of the ear-ring is inserted. These ear-rings are worn by women of the lower orders, made of bamboo, painted and gilt. Some wear them of pewter, ornamented in colours; and some of the richer classes have them of silver, set with precious stones.

Against the edge of the step next to the Devi is a small circular copper-plate, the edges of which are scalloped. In front of it is another little plate made of brass, of which the interior is engraved.

The lustral spoons are called Sruva and Druva, in Sanscrit: by the Mahrattas and other Hindoos, Pulahi and Atchwan; and have different forms according to the rites or objects of adoration. One of the spoons represents Naga the holy serpent, overspreading Gŭnéshŭ; on the other, the Naga overspreads the image of some deity, of whose name I am ignorant; and on another, the spread hood of the snake appears to cover Hŭnoomān.

Next to the spoon is the argha, a vessel shaped like a boat, used by the Hindoos in lustrations; it is of spout-like form, so that liquids may be poured from it. Lustral ceremonies are deemed very important by Brahmans, and are attended to as prescribed in their books, with the most minute particularity. Images are frequently bathed with water, oil, &c.; indeed, there is no end to lustral ceremonies, and spoons and arghas are therefore in extensive use. In marriage, and in funeral ceremonies, as well as in the Sraddha, funeral obsequies in honour of deceased ancestors, an argha is indispensable.

In the centre of the shrine is a brazen image of Gunga the deified river, which was also procured at this great bathing festival. It represents a woman sitting on an alligator, or the sea animal Mŭkŭrŭ. One hand is open in charity, one forbids fear, one bears a water-lily, and the fourth a lota. She is the daughter of Mount Himavŭt. This idol is rare and valuable. Gunga-jee-ke-jy! “Victory to Gunga-jee!”

Other heathen nations appear to have held certain rivers sacred: hence, Naaman the Syrian said, “Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? May I not wash in them and be clean?”

The Dŭshŭhŭra festival is held in commemoration of Gunga’s descent on earth. Crowds of people assemble from the different towns and villages near the river, especially at the most sacred places, bringing their offerings of fruit, rice, flowers, fresh garlands, cloth, sweetmeats, &c. “O goddess! the owl that lodges in the hollow of a tree on thy banks is exalted beyond measure; while the emperor, whose palace is far from thee, though he may possess a million of stately elephants, and may have the wives of millions of conquered enemies to serve him, is nothing.”

The next object is a pair of small cymbals, which are sounded by the priest in time to his chanted prayer.

Beyond them is a large highly-ornamented circular brass dish, containing a peealu or brass drinking cup, in which is either oil or holy water: this cup has figures carved upon it. By its side is a small brass plate, filled with rice, which the devotee takes up in the spoon, and puts upon the head of the idol. Various sacred flowers are also carried in the circular dish, to strew over and before the god. In the early morning you often see the Hindoos, both men and women, going to a shrine with a circular brass dish of this description similarly filled.

The next figure is Hŭnoomān, the monkey god, carrying Ram and Seeta on his shoulders in commemoration of his bringing them in safety from Ceylon.—[See p. 110.]

Beyond this figure is a conch shell and another bull-mouthed shell; and thus ends the description of the shrine of Gŭnéshŭ in the frontispiece.

In front of my cabinet stands a very large Brahmanical bull, by name Chamēlee, carved in white marble, painted and gilt. A curious Persian writing has just been offered to the Nandī (the bull), which Chamēlee has been graciously pleased to accept and add to the cabinet over which he presides.

The image of the sacred bull in black or white marble is worshipped in the temples of the Hindoos.

CHAPTER XXIV.
THE NUT LOG.

The Hounds—A Gumuki—The Eade—Trelawny—The Rev. J. Wolff—The Nut Log—Balancing Goat—Sirrākee Grass—A Dividend—Ear-rings of Jasmine—A Rat given to a Cow—The Mādār—Enamelled Grasshoppers—The Shaddock—The Agra Gun—Corruption of words—Variegated Locusts—Beautiful Flowers.

1833, Feb. 1st.—The new hounds have just arrived; such little animals by the side of Jan Peter (Trumpeter) and Racer! Out of eight couple there is not a good dog; the gentlemen say three hundred rupees, i.e. £30, is a long price for dogs not worth their food, and who would be better out of than in the pack.

At the fair to-day, I purchased a gumuki, a sort of loose bag, the shape of a carpenter’s square, large enough to admit the hand at one end, but sewed up at the other. It is made of blue cloth, embroidered with figures of the holy cow. A Hindoo will perform pooja seated on the ground, his right hand passed into a bag of this sort. His hand holds, and he counts most sedulously, a rosary of round beads (mālā), containing in number one hundred and eight, exclusive of connecting beads, differently shaped: the attention is abstractedly fixed on the deity, assisted by the rosary. Sometimes it is composed of amber, sometimes of certain rough berries sacred to the gods. Such rosaries, when used to promote abstraction, are called jap-mālā. During the time, a cloth is bound over his mouth, to prevent the entrance of insects; and he is supposed to be in holy meditation.

Feb. 22nd.—To-day is the Eed: it is customary for the Musulmāns to put on very gay new clothes on this day, and to go to prayers at the Jāmma Musjid, the large mosque on the banks of the Jumna. A camel is often sacrificed on the Buckra Eed, on the idea that the animal will be in readiness to carry the person who offers it over the bridge of Sirraat, safe to heaven. The poorer classes will offer a goat (Buckra), or a sheep, lambs, or kids. This festival is to commemorate Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac. The Musulmāns contend it was Ishmael not Isaac who was the offering.

I have lost my companion, my horse Trelawny: he was so quiet, and good-tempered, and good-looking; he was as pretty a boy as Hindoo or Musulmān might look on in the Central Provinces. Poor Trelawny, Jumna-jee rolls over my good steed! He died this morning of inflammation, caused by some internal injury he received when we were plunging together in the quicksands on the banks of the Ganges.

I am reading Captain Mundy’s “Sketches in India,” a much more amusing journal than I can write. I have no tigers to kill, no hurdwar to visit; nor have I even seen the taj. His journal is very spirited, very correct, and very amusing; I am pleased to hear the praises bestowed upon it in England.

Have you heard of the Rev. Joseph Wolff? He is a German Jew converted to the faith of Christ: “Unto the Jews a stumbling-block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.” He roams about the world in search of the lost tribes of Israel, “preaching Christ, and him crucified,” in the churches, and delivering lectures on the subject of the divinity of our Saviour, and his own wanderings. When at Simla, he was with Lord William Bentinck, and preached every Sunday in the presence of the Governor-general, which he would not have been allowed to do had he not been an ordained clergyman. He arrived here three days ago. In the evening he delivered a lecture in the Fort, which was attended by all the inhabitants of Allahabad. Curiosity is, I fear, stronger than religion; for I never before saw the church so crowded.

My husband accompanied me to hear Mr. Wolff. He is a strange and most curious-looking man; in stature short and thin; and his weak frame appears very unfit to bear the trials and hardships to which he has been, and will be, exposed in his travels. His face is very flat, deeply marked with small-pox; his complexion that of dough, and his hair flaxen. His grey eyes roll and start, and fix themselves, at times, most fearfully; they have a cast in them, which renders their expression still wilder. Being a German, and by birth a Jew, his pronunciation of English is very remarkable; at times it is difficult to understand him: however, his foreign accent only gives originality to his lectures, aided occasionally by vehement gesticulation. His voice is deep and impressive; at times, having given way to great and deep enthusiasm, and having arrested the attention of his hearers, he sinks at once down into some common-place remark, his voice becoming a most curious treble, the effect of which is so startling, one can scarcely refrain from laughter. He understands English very well; his language is excellent, but evidently borrowed more from reading than from conversation. He makes use of words never used in common parlance, but always well and forcibly applied. He carries you along with him in his travels, presenting before you the different scenes he has witnessed, and pointing out those customs and manners still in use, which prove the truth of Scripture. His descriptions at times are very forcible, and his account of the lives of St. Augustine and other holy men very interesting.

In the midst of his discourse he said, “It is the custom in Jerusalem, every Friday, for the Jews, the veils over their heads, in mourning and lamentation, to proceed to the ruins of the walls of Jerusalem: for this they pay tribute to the Turks. I will give you an idea of the hymn they sing—the whole congregation:—

“‘The Mighty shall build his Temple speedily:

Lord, build, Lord, build, build thy Temple speedily:

In haste, in haste, even in our days,

Build thy Temple speedily.

He is beloved, he is great, he is glorious, he is sweet!

Lord, build, build thy Temple speedily:

In haste, in haste, even in our days,

Lord, build thy Temple speedily!’”

Having repeated this hymn in English, Mr. Wolff sang it in Hebrew, as the Jews sing it before the wall of the Temple. His voice is fine, and the words are melodious; I give them as written by himself.