"Foolish is he who seeks permanence in the human state; unsolid, like the stem of the plantain tree; transient, like the foam of the sea. All that is low must finally perish; all that is elevated must fall; all compound bodies must end in dissolution; and life is concluded with death."

The other funeral ceremonies, as well as those of marriage, and the duties attendant upon hospitality (which are peremptorily enjoined towards strangers, especially Brahmans), are very numerous and diversified. The inquisitive reader will find them detailed in the seventh volume of the Asiatic Researches.

POITA or ZENNAAR.

Various ceremonies are attendant upon Hindu boys between infancy and the age of eight years. After that age, and before a boy is fifteen, it is imperative upon him to receive the poita, zennaar, or sacred thread, which after a variety of preliminary ceremonies is thus performed." The priest first offers a burnt sacrifice, and worships the salagrama, repeating a number of prayers. The boy's white garments are then taken off, and he is dressed in red, and a cloth is brought over his head, that no Sudra may see his face after which he takes in his right-hand a branch of the vilwa, and a piece of cloth in the form of a pocket, and places the branch on his shoulder. A poita of three threads, made of the fibres of the suru, to which a piece of deer's skin is fastened, is suspended from the boy's left shoulder, falling under his right arm, during the reading of the incantations." The father of the boy then repeats certain formulas, and pronounces three times, in a low voice, from the Gayitree, "Let us meditate on the adorable light of the divine Ruler (Savitri): may it guide our intellect." After this the suru poita is taken off, and the real poita, or sacred thread, put on. During this ceremony the father repeats certain formulas; the suru poita is fastened to the vilwa staff, shoes are put on the boy's feet, and an umbrella in his hand. He then solicits alms from his parents and the company present, who give more or less according to their means. Various other ceremonies then follow, which are succeeded by the service called sandhya:

at the close of which the boy eats of the rice which has been offered in the burnt sacrifice, and thus the ceremony ends.

The receiving of the poita is, as I have elsewhere stated, considered as the second birth of a Hindu, who is from that time denominated twiceborn. A boy cannot be married till he has received the poita.

The sacred thread must be made by a Brahman. It consists of three strings, each ninety-six hands (forty-eight yards), which are twisted together it is then folded into three, and again twisted; these are a second time folded into the same number, and tied at each end in knots. It is worn over the left shoulder (next the skin, extending half-way down the right thigh), by the Brahmans, Ketries, and Vaisya castes. The first are usually invested with it at eight years of age, the second at eleven, and the Vaisya at twelve. The period may, from especial causes, be deferred; but it is indispensable that it should be received, or the parties omitting it become outcasts.

The Hindus of the Sudra caste do not receive the poita.

TEMPLES.

The temples of the Hindus vary, in a very great degree, both in their structure and dimensions; from the small choultry, containing the simple clay image or emblem of the deity, to the magnificently sculptured fane enriched by a whole pantheon of gods in all their varied forms, attributes, and avatars; and from this to the extensive cavern temples of Ellora, Karli, Elephanta, &c. &c. That the sculptures in these temples are inferior in many points to those of Greece and Rome, will not be questioned; but that there are other points in which they have never been excelled, is equally undoubted.

Plate 27 of this work is a representation of part of the south front of the beautiful temple of Rama, at Ramnaghur. It is stated to have been commenced by the unfortunate Rajah Cheyt Singh, and is described as one of the most admirable specimens of indefatigable and minute labour in all Hindustan. Hamilton describes it as being equally beautiful and mythologi

cally correct. Hindu drawings of the four fronts are in my possession, which correspond in all points except in the variety of their mythological subjects, and possess one merit over most of the temples of a similar description in Hindustan, viz. that in the whole of the compartments, which comprise the forms and avatars of the several deities, there is not a single unchaste figure to be discovered among them.

The part of the south front of the building shewn in plate 27, represents, in the centre of the upper row of figures, Durga destroying the giant Muhisha, Ganesha, and a figure kneeling on one side are also three devotees. In the centre of the second row appear to be Krishna concealing himself from the Gopias, with one of the latter on each side. On the left side of the centre, commencing from the left, are, in one compartment, Ganesha and Kartikeya; in others, Hanuman, Mungula, three of (to me) unknown figures; and in the two lower rows, elephants, &c. On the right of the centre are Yama, Hanuman, Agni, Kal, and two more unknown forms, with the two lower rows as before. On each side of the door are various figures. The whole stands upon a terrace, apparently commanding a wide extent of country. Several other figures from this temple are presented in the plates of this work.

Of the cavern temples of Ellora, the Earl of Munster (then Colonel Fitzclarence) has written: "I will not permit my feelings to pass away without recording them on a more secure tablet than that of my memory. My eyes and mind are absolutely satiated with the wonders I have seen. The first are weary with objects so gigantic and extraordinary; and the latter has been so much on the stretch, being crowded and overwhelmed with ideas so overpowering and various, that I despair of ever forming a calm judgment upon them. Some of the sculptured decorations, and taste of the ornaments, would do credit to the best period of the Grecian school."

These temples are of both Brahmanical and Buddhist workmanship. The origin of them, as well as those of Elephanta, Salcette, Karli, &c., appears to have been altogether lost in the lapse of ages. The Ellora caves are fifteen (some say more) in number, and consist of Jugnath Subba,