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where materials for ten such sacrifices were brought to him. Not one ingredient was missing; all were perfectly complete. Brahmá then offered the ten sacrifices; and at each of them, a horse was consumed. The spot on which the ten sacrifices were offered Brahmá called Daśáśwamedha Ghát, or ghát of the ten horse-sacrifices, from dasa, ten; aśwa, a horse; and medha, sacrifice, which became, thenceforward, in Hindu estimation, a place of eminent sanctity, and endued with the power of conferring a multitude of blessings on all who sacrificed and bathed there.

Brahmá constituted Daśáśamedh the prince of places of pilgrimage, equal to Prayág (Allahabad). Should a Hindu, therefore, wishing to proceed to Prayág, at the time of the melá or religious festival there, not be able to undertake the journey, he may, at this ghát, obtain all the merit which he would have acquired, had he actually completed the pilgrimage to Prayag, and bathed at the sacred junction of the Ganges and the Jumna. Brahmá also dedicated two images in honour of Siva, one of which he called Daśáśwamedheswar, and the other, Brahmeśwar. The former is a plain black stone, of enormous dimensions, being not less than five or six feet in girth, and three or four in height, in front of which is a bull, also of large proportions. The other image is much smaller. Whoever worships Daśáśwamedheśwar will, it is supposed, escape all future transmigration; and his soul, instead of passing into a man, a mouse, or a frog, will go straight to paradise, that is, the heaven of Siva. In like manner, he who worships Brahmeśwar will,

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it is said, at death, fly at once into Brahmaloka, or the sphere of Brahmá. In the temple which contains these idols, there is a great assemblage of other images, consisting, for the most part, of lingas, representing Siva, which are chiefly arranged by the wall, and form, what the natives term, a kachahri or court of gods. In the latter half of the month of Jeth, a great many persons bathe at this ghát, and, also, in a small tank, near by, called Rudrasar, which shares in the sanctity of the neighbourhood. For fifteen days the

bathing and practice of religious ceremonies continue, the virtue of each day increasing in an arithmetical series; so that the virtue acquired on the fifteenth day is fifteen times as great as that acquired on the first; and the aggregate virtue amassed during the entire fifteen days, consequently, amounts to the virtue of one hundred and twenty days.

After terminating the ten sacrifices, it occurred to Brahmá, that he had not effected his object with Raja Divodás, in inducing him to commit sin. How could he, therefore, return to Siva? And, enamoured with all he saw around him, and flattered by Divodás, who built for him a house of great beauty, he settled the difficulty by determining to remain where he was, until Siva came to him.

In the Siddheśwarí Mahalla are two temples, held by devout Hindus in great repute. One is the Siddheswarí temple itself, to which is attached the ancient well known as Chandra-kúp; the other is the temple of Sankatá Deví. The former consists of two small quadrangles, in the first of which, in the centre of the

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open space, is Chandra-kúp, or the well dedicated to the moon, from chandra, the moon, and kúpa, a well. In the month of Chait, on the day of the full moon, this spot is visited by pilgrims, who cast their offerings into the well, in honour of the lunar deity. They also resort thither whenever a new moon occurs on a Monday; as that day is sacred to this luminary. In the sacred quadrangle a figure of the goddess Durgá is seen in a niche at the base of the wall, on the right-hand side as you enter. With one hand she grasps a lotos, and, with another a sword; the third hand rests upon a lion, and the fourth, upon a buffalo. A verandah extends along two sides of this enclosure, supported on pillars, the walls of which are decorated with paintings in vivid colours, several of which represent incarnations of the god Gaṇeś. Behind the verandah is the shrine of Siddheśwarí, the goddess who contributes perfection. Oppressed with the ills and trials of life, the Hindu approaches the goddess, and presents to her newly-gathered flowers, and water from the Ganges, hoping to obtain the promised blessing. He retires, believing in the virtue of his sacrifice, yet sick at heart, with his sorrows unrelieved and his sins unforgiven.

Sankaṭá Deví is another goddess who is thought to bestow similar favours on her votaries. Her shrine is situated on one side of a spacious quadrangle, in the middle of which, raised upon a platform, is an assemblage of temples and idols; and, on the western side of the platform, a bell hangs, suspended from the stone scaffolding. A portion of the quadrangle is

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