Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

Mr. Patterson imagines that these circumstances arose from an attempt, on the part of Daksha, to abolish the worship of the emblem of Siva, in which he was unsuccessful.

Parvati had, as the consort of Siva, maternal claims upon Kartikeya, the leader of the celestial armies, and Ganesha, or Ganaputty, the god of wisdom. They were both produced in a very extraordinary manner, as will be seen in the descriptions of them.

Parvati is the goddess of a thousand names; and both her forms and powers are more various and extensive than those of any of the other Hindu deities. She acts sometimes dependant on, at others wholly independant of her husband, Siva.

As Bhavani, she is the goddess of nature and fecundity, and is invoked by women in labour. As Maha Devi, she is "the goddess," the sacti of

the lord of the universe, Mahadeo. As Parvati, she is his constant companion. As Durga, or Katyayini, she is the amazonian champion and potent protectress of the gods, endowed by them severally with their attributes, and wielding in her numerous hands their various instruments of destruction, with which, for their protection, they had armed her. In this character she has been compared to the Olympian Juno, and the Pallas or armed Minerva of the Greeks; but clearly, thus blending in herself the power and divinity of all the gods, of incomparably greater importance than either. As Kali, she is their Diana Taurica, and personifying that black abyss, eternity, by which Kal (or time itself) shall be destroyed (pictured by her trampling upon Siva in that character), she is arrayed in attributes supreme over those of her husband.

Parvati has been described under numerous forms; but as they are only variations of the more important ones, Bhavani, Devi, Durga, and Kali, I shall content myself with noticing those under which she is most generally known.

As Parvati, she is described of a white; as Kali, of a dark blue or black; and as the majestic and tremendous Durga (of whom I shall now treat), of a yellow colour.

DURGA.

In this character she is represented with ten arms. In one hand she holds a spear, with which she is piercing the giant Muhisha; in another, a sword; in a third, the hair of the giant, and the tail of a serpent twined round him; and in others, the trident, the discus, the axe, the club, the arrow, and the shield. One of her knees presses on the body of the giant, and her right foot rests on the back of a lion, which is lacerating his arm. On her head she has a crown richly gemmed, and her dress is magnificently decorated with jewels. The giant is issuing from the body of the buffalo, into which he had transformed himself during his combat with the goddess. (See fig. 1 in the frontispiece.)

The plate here given is taken from a cast by a well-known modern artist, Chit Roy, and represents with great precision the figures which are exhibited at the annual celebration of the Durga Puja, or Dusarah. On this occasion the images of her sons, Kartikeya and Ganesha, are also in Bengal usually placed on each side of her, as shewn in the plate.

This festival, the most splendid and expensive, as well as the most popular of any of the Hindu festivals, takes place in the month Ashwinu (the end of September or beginning of October). The preliminary ceremonies occupy several days previous to the three days of worship. During the whole of this period all business throughout the country is suspended, and universal pleasure and festivity prevail.

66

On the first of the three days of worship, the ceremony of giving eyes and life to the images takes place, before which they cannot become objects of worship. This is performed by the officiating Brahman touching the cheeks, eyes, breast, and forehead of the image, saying, Let the soul of Durga long continue in happiness in this image." Other ceremonies, and the sacrifices of numerous animals, as buffaloes, sheep, goats, &c. then follow. The flesh and the blood of the animals, and other articles, are then offered to the images of the goddess and the other deities which are set up. The ceremonies and sacrifices of the second and third days of the worship

are nearly similar to those of the first day. After the whole of the beasts have been slain, the multitude daub their bodies with the mud and clotted gore of the blood, and then dance like Bacchanalian furies on the spot. On the following morning the image is, with certain ceremonies, dismissed by the officiating Brahman. It is then placed on a stage formed of bamboos, and carried, surrounded by a concourse of people of both sexes, and accompanied by drums, horns, and other Hindu instruments, to the banks of the river, and cast into the water, in the presence of all ranks and descriptions of spectators; the priest, at the time, invoking the goddess, and supplicating from her life, health, and affluence; urging her (their universal mother, as they term her) to go then to her abode, and return to them at a future time. During this period a licentiousness and obscenity prevail, which too well justify Mr. Ward's indignant remarks on the Hindu festivals. That gentleman relates an anecdote of a rajah of Nudeya, who, on one occasion, during the several days of the Durga festival, slaughtered no less a number of beasts than 65,535, in honour of this goddess.

During the three days of worship, in Bengal, the houses of the rich Hindus are at night splendidly illuminated, and thrown open to all descriptions of visitors;* and they acknowledge with much attention and gratitude the visits of respectable Europeans. On some occasions they, formerly,

* Plate 18 represents the house of a rich Hindu gentleman illuminated on the occasion of the Durga Puja. The place seen in the plate is the compound, or court of the house, covered over with a canopy. Round the court are piazzas, and above these are galleries, with interior chambers. At the upper end of the court are the images of Durga, Ganesha, and Kartikeya, as seen in the frontispiece. In front of the images, on the left side of the plate, are European visitors of rank receiving uttr and conserves from the servants of the house: opposite is the master of the house with some of his male relations. In the centre is a Nautch (a singing or dancing) girl;† and on the right are others of the same profession, some of whom are said to receive as much as three hundred rupees a night on the left are musicians. Under the piazzas are Hindus of various ranks. In the gallery and rooms on the right, and at the farther end, are respectable European and other visitors. The pillars, fronts, and hangings of the piazzas and galleries are fancifully decorated, in the oriental style, with gold and silver tissue, coloured silk, or paper, &c. &c. which reflecting the brilliant light of numerous lamps in vases or wall-shades, gives the scene a dazzling, and sometimes an imposing effect. The closed parts of the left gallery are the apartments of the females of the family, who can view the festivities through the venetians without being seen. + These people have different appellations, but I have used a common one.

[graphic]

Durga Puja.

The House of a rich Hindu illuminated on the occasion of the Durga Puja or estival in honor of the Goddess Durga

Published by Parbury, allen & CLondon 1832

« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »