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sionaries would cease , jheir labours when no longer empowered to extort their premium ; and that thus the whole abomination would totter to its fall . Hamilton writes (^ respecting the new road from Calcutta to Juggernaut ) , w Tbis road was begun in 1813 , and is still going on : but , with respect to the pilgrims , tne merit of their peregrination being" in proportion to the hardships they sustain , every arrangement tending to render the holy place more , accessible , and their immediate sufferings less , in the same proportion diminishes the merits of the pilgrimage , and nullities the contemplated expiation . *'
We must again quote the ** Friend of India . " The vast establishment of Juggernaut , founded as it is on delusion and unfeeling cruelty , would not long continue in its present splendour , when it ceased to be upheld by virtues of Christian growth . British regularity , activity , and faithfulness , are virtues which Juggernaut ' s worship is incapable of producing ; and without these , the larger the establishment , and the sum annually received , the sooner would the whole fall into ruin . Selfish and rapacious , none of the pundas in the temple would trust one another . Whatever might be the sum received one year , ( part of which they would probably
conceal from each other , ) no punda would have the enterprize to expend 60 , 0 * 00 rupees on the idoPs establishment , as a speculation for the next year ' s profits , of whicb , after all , others might deprive him . No one of them would Lave the activity to see that all the attendants did their duty . One would neglect to prepare Juggernaut ' s food , and perhaps sell the articles ; others would neglect his wardrobe ; and others the temple itself , both within and without . As for the pundas being at the expense of adorning his car with the finest English woollens from year to year , this would be out of the question . If they did it one year , they would neglect it the next , and thus the temple * with all its apparatus , would gradually sink into neglect and
contempt . * Is not prudence also a ** virtue of Christian growth" ? And if duly exercised , would such scenes as the following have been witnessed at this time of day ? < € On the appointed day , after various prayers and ceremonies are performed within the temple , the images are Drought from their throne to the outside of the-Lion-gate , not with decency and reverence , seated on a litter or vehicle adapted to such an occasion , but a common cord being fastened round their necks , certain priests , to whom the duty appertains , di * ag them
down the steps and through the mud , while others keep their figures erect , and help their movements , by shoving them from behind , in the most indifferent and unceremonious manner , as if they thought the whole business a good joke . In this way the monstrous idols go rocking and pitching along through the crowd , until they reach the cars , which they are made to ascend fey a similar process up an inclined platform . On the other hand , a powerful sentiment of religious enthusiasm pervades the admiring multitude of pilgrims
assembled without , when the images first make their appearance through the gate . They welcome them with shouts and cries of Jye Juggernaut 1 victory to Juggernaut ! and when the monster Juggernaut , the most hideous of ail the ftgtires , is dragged forth the last in order , the air is rent with acclamations-The celebrated idols are nothing more than wooden busts , about six feet in height , fashioned into a rude resemblance of the human head , resting on a sort of pedestal . ITJiey are painted white , yellow , and black , respectively , with frightfullygrim : ppol distorted countenances , and are decorated with a head-dress of mjtterent coloured cloths , shaped something like a helmet . The two Wbthers have arias projecting , horizontally forward from the ears . The sister is entirely devoid of even that approximation to the human form . The
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840 India ' s Cries to British Humanity .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Dec. 2, 1829, page 840, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2579/page/24/
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