From the caves and jungles of Hindostan

FROM THE CAVES AND JUNGLES OF HINDOSTAN.

...to send him a new lingam A symbolic representation of the god Shiva daily from Benares, was late in doing so one evening. Losing patience, Rama built himself a lingam of sand. When the symbol from Benares finally arrived, it was placed in a temple, and the lingam made of sand by Rama was left on the shore. There it stayed for many centuries, but upon the arrival of the Portuguese, the "Lord of Sand" felt so disgusted with the feringhi Foreigners/Europeans that he jumped into the sea, never to return. A little farther on, there is a charming tank called Vanatirtha, or the "point of the arrow." Here Rama, the much-worshipped hero of the Hindus, felt thirsty and, finding no water, shot an arrow into the ground; immediately, a pond was created. Its crystal waters were surrounded by a high wall, steps were built leading down to it, and a circle of white marble dwellings was filled with dwija Twice-born Brahmins.

India is the land of legends and of mysterious nooks and corners. There is not a ruin, not a monument, not a thicket that does not have a story attached to it. Yet, however they may be entangled in the web of popular imagination, which grows thicker with every generation, it is difficult to find a single one that is not founded on fact. With patience and, even more so, with the help of the learned Brahmins, you can always reach the truth once you have secured their trust and friendship.

The same road leads to the temple of the Parsi fire-worshippers. At its altar burns an unquenchable fire, which daily consumes hundreds of pounds of sandalwood and aromatic herbs. Lit three hundred years ago, the sacred fire has never been extinguished, despite many disorders, sectarian conflicts, and even wars. The Parsis are very proud of this temple of Zarathustra, as they call Zoroaster. Compared to it, the Hindu temples look like brightly painted Easter eggs. Generally

IN BOMBAY.

...they are dedicated to Hanuman, the monkey-god and the faithful ally of Rama; or to the elephant-headed Ganesha, the god of hidden wisdom; or to one of the Devis Goddesses. You meet these temples in every street. Before each, there is a row of pipal trees (Ficus religiosa) centuries old, which no temple can do without, because these trees are believed to be the home of nature spirits and sinful souls.

All of this is entangled, mixed, and scattered, appearing to one's eyes like a scene from a dream. Thirty centuries have left their traces here. The innate laziness and strong conservative tendencies of the Hindus even before the European invasion preserved all kinds of monuments from the destructive vengeance of fanatics, even if those memorials were Buddhist or belonged to some other unpopular sect. The Hindus are not naturally inclined to senseless vandalism, and a phrenologist Someone who studies the shape of the skull to determine character would look in vain for a "bump of destructiveness" on their heads. If you encounter antiquities that, having been spared by time, are now either destroyed or disfigured, it is not the Hindus who are to blame, but either the Muslims or the Portuguese under the guidance of the Jesuits.

At last we anchored and, in a moment, we and our luggage were besieged by dozens of naked, thin Hindus, Parsis, Mughals, and various other tribes. This entire crowd emerged as if from the bottom of the sea and began to shout, chatter, and yell, as only the tribes of Asia can. To escape this chaotic confusion of tongues as quickly as possible, we took refuge in the first bunder boat A type of coastal ferry or surf boat and headed for the shore.

Once settled in the bungalow awaiting us, the first thing that struck us in Bombay was the millions...