BRAHMANISM. 17 



Day " in the museum, bearing his name at Copenha- 

 gen, — Strange but true I There are also two smaller 

 caves similarly ornamented, and one of them contain- 

 ing a gigantic Lingam, or symbol of Mahadeva, the 

 fructifying deity. A representation of the "Lingam" 

 as well as that of his sister " Yoni " one frequently 

 meets with all over India, more especially in the 

 villages of the Deccan, where superstition carries people 

 into all sorts of excesses. A curious instance of a 

 small stone Lingam set in the Yoni is recorded by Dr. 

 Bellew in his " Kashmir and Kashgar." He saw it, 

 anointed with oil and garlanded with flowers, on the 

 altar of an old Hindu temple at Uri, not far from 

 Srinagar. 



It is to be regretted that there is no trace by which 

 to determine the exact period at which this enormous 

 work — the Temple of Elephanta — has been executed, 

 but no doubt it is a faithful representation of Hindu 

 mythology, as it exists to this day. Sir George Bird- 

 wood's " Industrial Art of India " names the eighth 

 century ; but I am inclined to think that it dates from 

 the earlier persecutions of Brahmanism by the Budd- 

 hists, which the character of its sculpture, as compared 

 with that of the Kylas, described hereafter, seems to 

 confirm. 



The Brahminical reliofion receives its name from 



