. Wanderings east of Suez in Ceylon, India, China and Japan. ication marvelous in of brass and silver are brought him,and for an hour or longer he rubs his handsomeframe with unguents and perfumes, slowly stripesforehead, biceps and breast with the ash-marks ofsanctity, and places a wafer of his caste on hisforehead. Later he climbs the ghat to his favoritetemple, probably content with the emolumentsthrust upon him at the water side, or may be hegoes to the bazaar to learn the latest gossip of re-ligious and political India. It is in no sense a los-ing game to be a member of
. Wanderings east of Suez in Ceylon, India, China and Japan. ication marvelous in of brass and silver are brought him,and for an hour or longer he rubs his handsomeframe with unguents and perfumes, slowly stripesforehead, biceps and breast with the ash-marks ofsanctity, and places a wafer of his caste on hisforehead. Later he climbs the ghat to his favoritetemple, probably content with the emolumentsthrust upon him at the water side, or may be hegoes to the bazaar to learn the latest gossip of re-ligious and political India. It is in no sense a los-ing game to be a member of the Brahministic ringcontrolling things in Benares, for the flow of coinfrom the two hundred million Hindus is ceaseless. A curious sight in Benares is the Monkey Tem-ple, a pretentious and not inartistic structure ofcarved red sandstone dedicated to Kali, the god-dess wife of Siva. The image of Kali within thetemple is a black fury of hideous countenance,whose red tongue droops to the waist. She is drip-ping with blood, and crowned with snakes, while 196. Benares, Sacred City of the Hindus hanging from her neck is a garland of humanskulls. Kali wants blood, and if not propitiateddaily therewith something horrible is expected tohappen. Every Indian town has a temple to thismonster; and everywhere throughout what Kip-ling calls the great, gray, formless India, sac-rifices are made each morning to this ogress withinsatiable appetite for blood. The entrance to the Monkey Temple is slime-covered and the air heavy with sickening a stone doorway the goddess may be seenenshrined, grinning demoniacally. Twenty horri-ble men, harmonizing in appearance to a readersconception of thugs, gather in the court, to giveeach batch of visitors the performance that mosthave come to witness. The frontal region of theirheads is shaven smooth, and each loathsome In-dian drools betel-nut saliva that looks like goat is led into the enclosure and tied to a stonepost, and the evil-
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjecteastasiadescriptiona
