The Sacred City of the Hindus: An Account of Benares in Ancient and Modern TimesTrübner & Company, 1868 - 388 pages |
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Page 47
... deity of Benares , and , in the opinion of the people , holds the position of king over all the other deities , as well as over all the inhabitants residing , not only within the city itself , but also within the circuit of the Panch ...
... deity of Benares , and , in the opinion of the people , holds the position of king over all the other deities , as well as over all the inhabitants residing , not only within the city itself , but also within the circuit of the Panch ...
Page 48
... deities who throng his dominions . His subjects must , first of all , worship him , and must bring their offerings to his shrine , of which he , or rather his rapacious priests , are exceedingly fond . Although without mouth or throat ...
... deities who throng his dominions . His subjects must , first of all , worship him , and must bring their offerings to his shrine , of which he , or rather his rapacious priests , are exceedingly fond . Although without mouth or throat ...
Page 49
... deity of the place , that is to say , the plain conical stone already spoken of . He makes his obeisance to the god either by bowing his head - his hands being folded in ador- ation or by prostrating himself upon the ground ; after ...
... deity of the place , that is to say , the plain conical stone already spoken of . He makes his obeisance to the god either by bowing his head - his hands being folded in ador- ation or by prostrating himself upon the ground ; after ...
Page 51
... deities , raised upon a platform , called by the natives ' the court of Mahádeva . ' They are , for the most part , male and female emblems . Several small idols likewise are built into the wall flanking this court . These are evidently ...
... deities , raised upon a platform , called by the natives ' the court of Mahádeva . ' They are , for the most part , male and female emblems . Several small idols likewise are built into the wall flanking this court . These are evidently ...
Page 54
... deity below . The compound mixture thus produced is necessarily in a constant state of putrefaction , and emits a most disgusting stench . The well is surrounded by a hand- some low - roofed colonnade , the stone pillars of which are in ...
... deity below . The compound mixture thus produced is necessarily in a constant state of putrefaction , and emits a most disgusting stench . The well is surrounded by a hand- some low - roofed colonnade , the stone pillars of which are in ...
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Common terms and phrases
ANCIENT REMAINS antiquity architraves Asiatic Aśoka Bakaríyá Kund banks Bará Barna bass-relief bathe Bengal Bisheswar Brahmá Brahmans Buddha Buddhist building built called carved centre century chaityas Cheit Singh Christian Chunar city of Benares cloister deities distance divine Durgá edifice enclosure entire erected excavations existence feet in height festival figure five formerly four Gaṇeś Ganges goddess gods ground Hindu Hinduism Hiouen Thsang honour hundred idolatry idols images inches India inscription James Prinsep Jou-laï Káśí Kâsis king large number Mahadeva Mahalla Melá miles Mohammedan monastery mosque native neighbourhood niche northern original ornamented persons pilgrimage pilgrims pillars portion present priests quadrangle Ráj Ghát Raja Raja of Nepal Rám Rámnagar regarded religion religious remarkable residence river road ruins Sangam Sanskrit Sárnáth sculptured side Siva small shrine spot square stairs stands stone Stupa tank temple terrace tower Vihára Vishnu wall Warren Hastings worship
Popular passages
Page 4 - The traveller could scarcely make his way through the press of holy mendicants, and not less holy bulls. The broad and stately flights of steps which descended from these swarming haunts to the bathingplaces along the Ganges, were worn every day by the footsteps of an innumerable multitude of worshippers.
Page 4 - Commerce had as many pilgrims as religion. All along the shores of the venerable stream lay great fleets of vessels laden with rich merchandise. From the looms of Benares went forth the most delicate silks that adorned the balls of St. James's and of Versailles, and in the bazaars the muslins of Bengal and the sabres of Oude were mingled with the jewels of Golconda and the shawls of Cashmere.
Page 4 - The schools and temples drew crowds of pious Hindoos from every province where the Brahminical faith was known. Hundreds of devotees came thither every month to die : for it was believed that a peculiarly happy fate awaited the man who should pass from the sacred city « into the sacred river.YNor was superstition the only motive which allured strangers to that great metropolis.
Page 1 - When Babylon was struggling with Nineveh for supremacy, when Tyre was planting her colonies, when Athens was growing in strength, before Borne had become known, or Greece had contended with Persia, or Cyrus had added lustre to the Persian monarchy, or Nebuchadnezzar had captured Jerusalem, and the inhabitants of Judaea had been carried into captivity, she had already risen to greatness, if not to glory.
Page 39 - Moreover, it is of great importance to bear in mind, that, as a man can hardly be better than his religion, the nature of the Hindu partakes of the supposed nature of the gods whom he worships. And what is that nature? According to the traditions handed about amongst the natives, and constantly dwelt upon in their conversation, and referred to in their popular songs, which, perhaps, would be sufficient proof...
Page xxviii - History of Bengal, p. 36. Elsewhere we read, that, " having broken the idols in above a thousand temples, he purified and consecrated the latter to the worship of the true God.
Page 188 - ... and an expression of sympathy with these holy mourners, would sufficiently comfort them, and give them an ostensible reason for returning to their usual employment. Accordingly, all the British functionaries went to the principal ghat, expressed their sorrow for the distress in which they saw them, but reasoned with them on the absurdity of punishing themselves for an act in which they had no share, and which they had done their utmost to prevent or to avenge.
Page 128 - But finding that brass instruments did not come up to the ideas which he had formed of accuracy, because of the smallness of their size, the want of divisions into minutes, the shaking and wearing of their axes, the displacement of the centres of the circles, and the shifting of the planes of the instruments, he concluded that the reason why the determinations of the ancients such as Hipparchus and Ptolemy proved inaccurate...
Page 3 - Benares, a city which in wealth, population, dignity, and sanctity was among the foremost of Asia. It was commonly believed that half a million of human beings was crowded into that labyrinth of lofty alleys, rich with shrines and minarets and balconies and carved oriels, to which the sacred apes clung by hundreds. The traveller could scarcely make his way through the press of holy mendicants and not less holy bulls.
Page xxxiv - For the sanctity of its inhabitants, of its temples and tanks, of its wells and streams, of the very soil that is trodden, of the very air that is breathed, and of everything in it and around it, Benares has been famed for thousands of years.