Seely's Wonders oj Elora. 



scniing large Tanps, rallicr tlian leelli ; 

 llic tongue jirolni'l'. (I ; ii;ii!s very long, 

 :<ii<l curved ; hiimiin skulls and snakes 

 suspended nmiid liie neck ; ami slie 

 tlaiirinii; on a dead body. 



Yislinu fails next jinder our notice. 

 As tlie I'reserver, lie is more beneficent, 

 his altributes more ojenlle, and liis 

 a|)|)caranec more pleasiiii^. He may bo 

 said to conulcracl tbe evil i>T(idnce<i by 

 Malia Deo and bis unamiabie Sacti, or 

 ••onsort, Pnrvati. Visliiiii's consort 

 Laksbini is in bigli estiin;ition, as tbe 

 " goddess of riches and plenty.'' 

 A'islinn, wiicn represented sleeping on 

 the lulus, has four bands ; bis colour is 

 dark blue — be holds a lotos : one of his 

 «'bii'f ornaments is the concb or chank- 

 sbell (the buccinnm); hence ho is 

 likened to Neptune, and again to 

 Jupiter; his vehicle aji eagle, sofiie- 

 tinies with a bunian body. He is 

 sonietinics displayed riding on the large 

 .serpent Seesha, the symbol of eternity. 

 ile has probably nioie woi shippers thai 



.585 



east ; Vuruna, the west ; Yanui, (king 

 of hell) the south; Vari/oiva, the north- 

 west ; Cuvera, the norlli ; and Isaivara, 

 the north-east. 



Erahma is not frequently seen in tiie 

 temples of Elora. He would appear not 

 as the active agent of the Almighty 

 Power, but as absorbed in the repre- 

 sentations of Vishnu and Siva, as if it 

 were that he bad by the almighty fiat 

 created, and the preserving and destroy- 

 ing attributes bad been left to his 

 coadjutors. True it is, very few altars 

 are raised to hisn, but his name is pro- 

 uoiniccd v\ith trepidation and profound 

 reverence. 



There is an interminable list of other 

 gods, with their subordinate agents and 

 sactis. Of goddesses, cunii)aratively 

 speaking, there are but few. 'Jlie nine 

 Avatars or incarnations of Vislnui, 

 from tbe first or lilatsi/n, the fish at the 

 period of the deluge, down to the ninth 

 or last ill Budiia, occupy an endless 

 catalogue of fable and romance, the 

 wl.ole theory of which has, by the policy 

 of tbe priests, in engrailing other events 

 tbcreoii, been greatly confounded. 'I'lic 

 tenth Avatar, like the Messiah of Ihg 

 Jews, is \etto come, as Kalkcc, or tbe 

 white horse ; for a j)oetic description 

 of which the reader is referred to the 

 beautiful poem by Mr. Campbell. 



Idols, stones, and graven images, are 

 not alone reverenced by the Hindoos. 

 Trees, shrubs, and picees of water, are 

 in many places held in veneration: sncli 

 was the tar-k, near the village of Elora ; 



llio other t«o gods of tbe triad, 

 Generally speaking, bis followers may 

 be comprebcmUd under the 'title of 

 Vais/tiiavas. J only piiipose ofli ring a 

 I)rief .summary <jf tlie chief divinities : — 

 to go bojoiid that, one would be 

 involved in an extiicable labyrinth of 

 elaborate allegory, dilfiise fable, mjsliJB 

 legends, all enveloped in deep obscurity 

 aiul extravagant fiction. 



IJaina a; pears befoie us at Elora. 

 He is an Avatar of Vishnu, and wor- 

 shipped by a peculiar sect called 

 iiamatu. Sir W. Jones thinks hiio the hence, probably, arose the celebrity of 



.same as the Grecian Dioiijsos, ami pro- 

 bably as the son of Ciish. Ruma, like 

 Ditiiiysos, was a great conqueror: the 

 latli r beaded an at my of satyrs 

 commanded by Pan, while the former 

 i;m|iloyed our old Irieud Ihinunian to 

 lead on bis monkeys. Notices having 

 been given of Haniiman and of Rama. 

 Kama is the tutelar deity of tlie military 

 caste (or Csliatriya). jioth Kama and 

 bis spouse Sit:i, are very jjopiilar 

 divinities : the latter has several places 

 named after her, as Situ-Coond, tbe 

 hot v\ell n< arMonghir, and Sila-Buldee, 

 tin; Hill of Sil;». (Pt-ace bo on the 

 spot, and on my friends who reside 

 tliere !) The custaid-applu is called 

 Sita [iltuL 



Pa\ana, the regent of the winds, is 

 flic lather of Hanunian, and belongs 

 exclusively to the Avatar of Rama, 

 le^eiit of the sonlli-wesi, as yi(f7ti 

 (Viili:iii) is of the soiilh-east. Imlra, 

 ulitiuly ineiitiontd, puiides ever the 



the place, and the idea of excavatinjj 

 tlie temples in the neighbourliood. The 

 legend eo!nmunicatcd to me by the 

 Rrahmans was — that Eeloo Rajah, 

 whose father's territories were at Ellich- 

 pore, in the neighbouring kingdom of 

 Hyderabad, was in a diseased stale, and 

 his body filled with maggots; but by 

 dipping a cloth in the sacred s))ot, and 

 rubbing it over iiis body, be was cleansed 

 of the maggots, and a speedy cure 

 cflected. It is unnecessary to dwell on 

 this extravagant fable, when it is added 

 that the cistern, or koond, in whieli 

 Eeloo bathed, was reduced Iroin a large 

 sheet of water, by the commands of 

 Vislinu, to the small size of a cow's hoof, 

 and that tbe event Inqipencd 7894 years 

 ago. 'Iherc is scarcely a chronological 

 event of the (lindoos to which (bey do 

 not attach some monstrous absurdity to 

 awaken your wonder, but which they 

 themselves implicitly believe. Sopleased 

 was Eclou with his cure, that he instantly 



set 



