mosque in

CHAP. IX. At last the Portuguese ambassador and party ́reMuhammadan sumed their journey. About half a league from the Hindu territory. fortress Della Valle saw a Muhammadan mosque beside a tank. He was told that the captain of the fortress had been permitted by Venk-tapa Naik to build this mosque; but this was regarded as a great favour, for Hindu Rajas were not accustomed to suffer temples of other religions to be set up within their territories.

Temple of
Varuna.

Ancient dia

dems, Egyptian and Roman Catholic.

At another halting-place, Della Valle saw a temple of Varuna.23 The idol stood at the upper end with candles before him. Della Valle could not see the figure, but was told it was in the shape of a man. There were other idols, some of which were figures of gods, whilst others were only ornaments. There. were also some immodest representations of men and women, but these were not gods. Amongst the gods was a Brahma with five heads, and three arms on a side, sitting astride a peacock; a Narain (Vishnu) with four arms on a side; a Ganesha with the head of an elephant; another idol with a man under his feet, upon whose head he trampled; together with others of various sorts.

Della Valle observed that all these idols had the same covering on the head, with many picks or peaks, all ending in one long peak; a strange and majestic diadem, which was no longer used in India. Della Valle remembered to have seen in Rome some diadems of the same shape upon the heads of some Egyptian statues. They were like the diadems of Catholic saints; or, as some made it, three crowns,

23 This was a curious relic of Vedic worship. Varuna, or, as Della Valle spells it, "Virena," was the Vedic deity of the sea,

one upon another, like the pontifical crown of the CHAP. IX. Pope.24

the temple of

In the evening the priests of the temple of Varuna Procession at rung a kind of bell or shell inside the building by Varuna, striking it with a staff. They then beat two drums very loudly, and sounded two pipes or flutes of metal. The people assembled without, whilst tapers were lighted within. The image of Varuna was then placed in a palanquin under a rich canopy, and a procession was formed. One of the priests marched in front continually sounding a bell. Many others followed with bells, ending with two who carried lighted tapers. Then followed the idol under the canopy, preceded by a priest carrying a vessel of burning perfumes. The procession entered the court without the temple, and so through the gate of the court into the street, still sounding the bells; and so through the city, accompanied by a great train of men and women.

before the idol.

When the procession returned to the temple, a Ceremonial priest from the upper end saluted the idol, and made many circles with a lighted taper in his hand. The same priest then approached the idol, sounding a bell, followed by a boy carrying a basin of prepared sandalwood. The priest walked three times round the idol, amidst the noise of drums and flutes. He then laid aside the bell, and dipping his finger in the sandalwood, placed it on the forehead of the idol. He next took the idol out of the palanquin, and placed it on the tribunal at the upper end of the temple. Lastly,

24 This diadem is a singular relic of antiquity. It is to be found in images and carvings all over India and Burma. It is the special head-dress of Buddhas. How it was transferred to the Holy See is a question which opens up new fields of study.

CHAP. IX. he distributed amongst the people some slices of cocoanut which had been offered to the idol. The lights were then put out, the music ceased, and the ceremonial was brought to a close.

Ikkeri, the capital of Kanara.

Public audience at the palace of Venk tapa.

The Portuguese ambassador and his party arrived at Ikkeri in due course. The city was seated in a goodly plain. Della Valle says that he and his party passed through three gates with forts and ditches. Consequently the city must have had three enclosures. The two first lines were not walls, but fences of high Indian canes, very thick and closely planted; strong against horse or foot, hard to cut, and not in danger of fire. The third enclosure was a wall, but weak and inconsiderable. Ikkeri was a large city, but the houses were scattered and ill built, especially those outside the third enclosure. Most of the site was laid out in great and long streets, some of them shadowed with high trees growing in lakes of water. There were also fields full of trees, like groves; so that the place seemed to consist of a city, lakes, fields, and woods mingled together, forming a very delightful sight.

After a day or two's delay, the Portuguese ambassador obtained an audience with Venk-tapa Naik. The party rode to the palace in procession, accompanied with drums and music. The palace stood in a large fortress, environed with a ditch and some badly-built bastions. There were also many streets of houses and shops within the fortress. On reaching the palace, the ambassador and his party found the Raja seated on a raised pavement in a kind of porch at the upper end of a small court. Over his head was a canopy, shaped like a square tent, but made of boards and covered with gilding. The floor was

covered with a piece of tapestry somewhat old. The CHAP. IX. Raja sat on a little quilt, having two cushions of white silk at his back. Before him lay his sword adorned with silver. On the right hand, and behind the Raja, stood several courtiers, one of whom continually waved a white fan before him, as if to drive away the flies.

Venk-tapa Naik chewed betel-leaves throughout The conference. the conference. He asked the ambassador why the Portuguese ships were so late this year, thereby showing his disgust at the delay in the payment for the pepper. The ambassador replied that a Portuguese fleet was coming out to India with a great army; that the kings of Spain and Portugal had formed an alliance with England; that Prince Charles of England was on a visit to the Court of Madrid; that all England had been reduced to the Catholic faith by the public command of the king of Spain, "with other levities," says Della Valle, "which are peculiar to the Portuguese."

dancing in hon.

Della Valle witnessed many sights at Ikkeri which Singing and are peculiarly Hindu. Several companies of young our of Gauri. girls danced in circles with painted sticks in their hands about a span long. They were dressed in figured silks from the waist downwards, with linen jackets and scarfs over their shoulders. Their heads were decked with yellow and white flowers, formed into a high and large diadem, with some sticking out like sunbeams, and others twisted together and hanging out in several fashions. As they danced, they struck their sticks together after a musical measure, amidst the sound of drums and other instruments. They sang songs in honour of their

29

CHAP. IX. goddess Gaurí;25 one sang a verse at a time, and the others chanted a chorus.

Swinging festival; chariots of the gods; Jan

gamas.

Extraordinary performances of

At another place Della Valle saw a beam set up at a great height within the city. He was told that on certain holidays devout people hung themselves on hooks from this beam, and sang hymns in honour of the gods, whilst brandishing their swords and bucklers.26 He also saw great chariots in which the gods were carried in procession, whilst dancing women played, sang, and danced. Many Indian friars were to be seen in the city of Ikkeri, who were called Jangamas. They were smeared with ashes, and clad in extravagant habits, with hoods or cowls of a reddish brick colour, and bracelets on their arms and legs which jingled as they walked.27

One dancing woman showed extraordinary dexa dancing girl. terity. She stood on one foot, and then with the other foot she turned a large iron ring swiftly in the air without letting it fall from her toe. At the same time she tossed two balls alternately in the air with one hand without letting one fall.

Succession in the female line.

Another day Della Valle saw the nephew of Venktapa Naik passing along the street of Ikkeri. He was the son of the Naik's sister, and the next in succession to the throne. This was in accordance with the custom of Kanara and Malabar. The succession ran in the female line, falling to the son of a sister, and not to the son of a wife, in order to ensure a

25 The goddess Gauri is obscure; she is generally identified with Dúrgá, the wife of Siva or Mahadeva, and sometimes with Savitri, the wife of Brahma. 26 This was the well-known Charak Puja, which is so often noticed by missionary writers. It was flourishing at Calcutta within the last twenty years, but was abolished about 1864 by the British Government.

27 Further notices of these Jangamas appear later on in the narrative. They were priests of the Lingayats, or Linga worshippers.