18 HINDU PILGRIMAGES. 



Brahm, the great god of the Veda or sacred 

 book, whose attributes are distributed amongst 

 three other deities, appearing either as the Indian 

 Triad (Trununti), or each separately, namely, Brahma, 

 the Creator, represented as a golden coloured figure 

 with four heads and four arms ; secondly, Vishnu, 

 the Preserver, black or blue, with four arms, and 

 a club to punish the wicked ; he again has ten 

 incarnations, nine of which have already taken place, 

 and by which the great ends of providence are 

 brought about ; and thirdly, Seva, the Destroyer, with 

 four or five heads, sometimes with only one head— in 

 that case furnished with three eyes. The latter also 

 appears under the title of Mahadeva, the Great God, 

 and is then adored as the author of all life. There 

 are besides innumerable minor deities. The Hindu 

 worship of the present day consists mainly of pil- 

 grimages to sacred shrines and sacrifices. They are 

 sources of a large income to the temples, and in some 

 of the smaller Native States the Rajah himself does 

 not unfrequently take advantage of his subjects' 

 superstition for the purpose of increasing his own 

 revenue ; he of Sandur, a petty Rajput, is the latest 

 example ; his entire receipts from ordinary sources 

 do not exceed forty thousand rupees, which he sup- 

 plements by charging pilgrims, on the occasion of a 



