“Fifty miles above Ghazipūr, or eight above Bullooah ghāt, on the right bank of the river, is Kye, and its sunken kankar reef—scarcely avoidable in some dry seasons. Thence due west over the right bank you may observe the Benares minarets—distant nine miles.” A little wind aided us, and we lugāoed at 6 P.M. at Rāj ghāt, Benares. A number of temples and tombs, with the minarets beyond, looked well in the distance as we approached; but the smoke of the evening fires on the bank, and the red glare of the setting sun, rendered all objects indistinct. I walked to see a tomb on the top of the high cliff a little below Rāj ghāt; it is enclosed by stone walls in a garden, and is a handsome monument; many tombs are on the outside by the ravine. It is a very picturesque spot. Thus closed the evening at Rāj ghāt.
CHAPTER LXVII.
SKETCHES ON THE GANGES FROM BENARES TO BINDACHUN.
“AT BUNARUS YOU SHOULD BE ON YOUR GUARD AGAINST THE WOMEN, THE SACRED BULLS, THE STAIRS, AND THE DEVOTEES[49].”
Benefits arising from a Residence in the Holy City of Kāshī—Kalŭ-Bhoirŭvŭ—The Snake-Charmers—Gigantic Image of Hunoomān—Brahmanī Bulls—The Ghāts from the River—Bhīm Singh—Tulsī Altars—Ruins of the Ghāt of the ex-Queen of Gwalior—A Corpse—Young Idolaters—State Prisoners—The City—Sultanpūr—Chunar—Picturesque Tree near the Ghāt—Singular Ceremonies—The Deasil—Turnbull Gunge—Mirzapūr—Beautiful Ghāts and Temples—Carpet Manufactory—Bindachun.
1844, Dec. 5th.—A friend accompanied me this morning to view Benares, or, as it is more correctly called, Bunarus: nothing pleases me more than driving about this city,—the streets, the houses, and the people are so well worth seeing. “A little to eat, and to live at Bunarus,” is the wish of a pious Hindū; but a residence at this place is rather dangerous to any one inclined to violate the laws, as the following extract will testify:—“Kalŭ-Bhoirŭvŭ is a naked Shivŭ, smeared with ashes; having three eyes, riding on a dog, and holding in one hand a horn, and in another a drum. In several places in Bengal this image is worshipped daily. Shivŭ, under this name, is the regent of Kāshī (Bunarus). All persons dying at Benares are entitled to a place in Shivŭ’s heaven; but if any one violate the laws of the shastrŭ during his residence there, Kalŭ-Bhoirŭvŭ at death grinds him betwixt two mill-stones.”
THE SNAKE-CHARMERS.
6th.—Some of these people came down to the river-side, and displayed their snakes before the budgerow; they had two boa constrictors, one of which was of enormous size; the owner twined it about his neck after the fashion in which a lady wears her sable boa; the other, which was on the ground, glided onwards, and the man pulled it back, as it appeared to be inclined to escape into the water. They had a number of the cobra di capello, twenty or more, which, being placed on the ground, reared themselves up, and, spreading out their hoods, swayed themselves about in a fashion which the men called dancing, accompanied by the noise of a little hand-drum. The snake-charmers struck the reptiles with their hands, and the snakes bit them repeatedly on their hands, as well as on their arms, bringing the blood at each bite; although the venomous fangs have been carefully removed, the bite itself must be disagreeable; nevertheless, the natives appear not to mind it in the least. There was no trick in the case; I saw a cobra bite his keeper five or six times on his hand and arm, the man was irritating it on purpose, and only desisted when he found I was satisfied that there was no deception. At the conclusion of the exhibition they caught the cobras, and crammed them all into gharās (earthen vessels); the boas were carried off in a basket.
In the evening I walked to a dhrumsāla or alms-house on the bank of the river, a little above Rāj ghāt; it is situated on the top of a high flight of steps, and is very picturesque. On the steps of the stone ghāt below is a gigantic image of Hunoomān, made of mud, and painted according to the most approved fashion. The natives were very civil, showing me the way to different places, and yet the Benares people have a bud nām (bad name) in that respect, being reckoned uncivil to strangers.
On the steps of the ghāt I met a very savage Brahmanī bull; the beast was snorting and attacking the people,—he ran at me, but some men drove him off; there were numbers of them in the bazār, but this was the only savage one I encountered; the rest were going quietly from gram-stall to gram-stall, apparently eating as much as they pleased. The merchants would be afraid to drive the holy bulls away with violence.