WHAT I SAW AT BENARES.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXIV, Issue 7, 12 June 1896, Page 25

WHAT I SAW AT BENARES.

(Specially written for the New Zealand Tablet")

I BA.W Benares several years ago, but the vision of it is as clear, as definite, and as distinct to-day, as it wa3 oi tbat memorable day when I trod its winding streets. This vision was too deeply engraved on my mind to ba easily effaced by the tetnput edax, the flight of years. The first glimpse I had of it was from the railway carriage, as the locomotive engine was slowing down, previous to its crossing the bridge which spans the river Ganges. It was a revelation, a thing of beauty, a fairy scene— one that has baffl id the descriptive powers of eminent Anglo-In liaaa and Americans. There I saw ■pread before me, for three long, running miles, all along the leftside of the Ganges, broad fli<nta of winding steps, noble buildings eight or nine stories bigb, magnificent mosques aad towering temples. rising in amphitheatre form, from the banks of the river. The stepa are constantly crowded with swarms of preachers, Brahmins, pilgrims, worshippers, loungers, bathers aad fruit sellers. Above mansion and mosque, I saw the two beautiful and graceful minars, a landmark to the weary, footsore, worn-out pilgrim to Banares, whici the moßlem victor, Aurungzebe, erect id to perpetuate the triumph of Islam, and the humiliation of Ind. High abjvathe highest I saw the darting rays of an oriental sun bring out in bold relief the gaudy, loud, flashy colours of the peoples' costumes, and light up the gilded tops of the countless temples, all sparkling, quivering and ba-bing in a tood of sunshiny light. The tout ensemble formed a glorious'y grand sight, a nine-days'-woader, one that would in itself amply repay a long, wearisome eighteen hour's railway ride from Calcutta. This I ■ay without gushing over it. I must not forget to mention that the train stopped for a while to give ua tim » and leisura for feasting our •yes on the beautiful panorama exhibited before us. I ban saw the new iron-lattice girder bridge. An imposing stone structure, partaking more of the nature of a beautifully embattled tower thin of a simple embankment, stands i-entinel on either bink. Toe bridge is 3618 teet long. It is called the Dufferin Bridge, after the popu'a. Viceroy who opened it. It eross js the Ganges in s'xtean spans, and it deserves to be described asagre»t triumph of engineering skill. After crossing the bridge, however, the scene was changed, beauty vanished, the spell was broken, the scales fdll from my eyes, and the true oriental city stood revealed before me, in all its repuUiva reality. Now I caw narrow, steep, nasty, dirty, dusty streets. H uses tall and dismal, of all sizss and ■htpea, but all equally shutting oat air and sun, owing to their small apertures, which did service for windows— a wise course, no doubt, to prevent inquisitive, peeping Toma from prying into the domestic arrangements of their less obtrusive neighbours As I wished to see some of the " lions " of the place I was compelled to thread some " fearful and wonderful " alleys. Indeel, some of the narrow lanes through which I had to pick my way are considered so nnsafe for a white man to venture alone that I had to provide myself with an English soldier, an Indian policeman, besides a native guide and a brother-priest. All together, we wended our way to the world-wide renowned "Golden Temple," where Sivah, the god of creation and presiding deity of Benares, receives supreme and universal worship. Of all the three hundred and thirty million gods of the Hindoo mythology, Sivth is not only the chief, but, what is

more, be comprises them all. Every orthodox Hindoo is expected to visit the Golden Temple at Benares at least onc9 in his lifet me. Many vow pilgrimages to it. The better class avail themselves of the modern comfortable methods of making them ; bat the many go on foot, or on their knees, till the Bkin is scraped off, the muscles worn ou v , the bones laid bare, and the poor, onfortnnate, self-deluded creatures expire on the road in agonies of pain. Others measure their length and roll over aod over all the way along, for hundreds of miles to the city and temple. Others again e xpose themselves to the scorching rays of the sun till they either go stark, staring mad, or die of bunst-oke. Others— but I will refrain from needlessly shocking my readers. I will now procesd to describe what I saw in the Golden Temple. The temple itself is a poor, mean struc'urj with three em ill rooms in it, etch crowned with a dome the exterior tops of which are tuppotod to be covered witb plates of gold — hence its appellation. Oa entering the oater courts of it I was horror-stricken, for I saw priest and people payingjsupreme Divine honour to a live cowjand a ball ; a ball, too, so hideously deformed that I covered my face with both my hands in order not to see it. And would yon believe it? Its deformity serves only to heighten the veneration those poor benighted people entertain for it. I was informed that the bull was born and bred in the temple. Penetrating further, my horror was changed into pity and dismay at the sight that met my bewildered eyes. There, right in front of me, but utterly heedless of me, I saw an immense crowd of men and women prostrate before a rude, undisguised conical stone and praying in a most earnest and suppliant manner ; their trembling hands uplifted, their quivering voices choked witb emotion, their glistening eyes streaming Bcorohing tears, their beautiful faces wearing the imprint of sincerity, their whole edifying demeanour such as to do credit to a better cause. And sorely, methought, if we Christians exhibited half as muoh fervour, earnestness and devotion at our prayers as they seem to have, we would be viewed in the light of so many living saints. It is a thousand pities that suoh seemingly 'deep devotion and piety should be given to the devil, instead of their being bestowad upon God. The remark of Ovid about Althea applies to the Hindoos in a particular manner, for they are really "impiously pious." Tkeo, turning my eyes in another direction, I saw some attendant Brahmins offering sacrifice to what do you think ii — a stone repreaen'ation of a Urge egg, set io a polished brass cup, with a number of small ones around it I Proceeding further still into an adjacent enclosure I saw another crowd of worshippers prostrate round a handsomely wrought iron colonnade. I inquired what it was, aad my guide replied that it was now standing vis-a-vit with the celebrated " Gyan-Bapi " or " Well cf Knowledge," the Hindoos pray before it and partake of its slimy water, in the hope that the deity residing in it may reveal to them their future fate. Guiiosity prompted me to look down into it, and a more putrid sLk bad never burst upon my astonished sight till then, for I saw fl >uadering in ita pastilential waters all the garbage of the temple. One of the ministering Brahmins offend |me a ladle full of water assuring me, in all seriousness of its miraculous properties. In the twinkling of an eye, I'd know what was in store for me from now to my dying day, I'd ba wonderfully wise without the ail of books, an ever blooming youth would cheer my life, and so on, and so on, and all this for a sixpenny piece. Somehow, his cogent arguments could not induce ms to partake of that nauseating beverage. And it must be, no doubt, owing to this utter disregard of " carpe diem " tbat I njw fi id myself tosae 1 in a whirlpool of unoertain y, ignorance and senile decay. At this juncture, however, the Brahmin's face lit up with smiles, and catching my eye, with a twinkle in his own, said " Sahib 1 won't you give me a " baoksheesh 7 I readily complied with his more reasonable request by placing a silver coin in his hand and I took my leave of the golden tempi* After this I saw rainy m >re highly interesting and amusing sights ; but just now, inaethinks I see rising up befora my eyes, the figure of the edi'or of the N. Z. Tablet holding in his hands the inexorable scissors and threatening to cut and clip aod slash ma up, if I dare to inflict another word upon his long-sufhring aod patient readers. — D. 1. Amandolini, 0.8.8, Hamilton, Auckland.