BOMBAY .SI(4HTS. 19 



great triennial festival, a couple of rupees for admit- 

 tance to a temple, situated within his rocky stronghold, 

 and to have a glimpse of the idol " Koomarswamy," 

 one of the sons of Shiva and Parbatti, who, according 

 to the Hindu legend, on learning that the bride, 

 selected for him by his mother, was as beautiful as 

 Parbatti herself, refused to marry her, as he would 

 imagine having married his own mother, upon which 

 his disobedience was punished by his father's blood 

 and his mother's milk oozing from the pores of his 

 body, and, making his escape, he eventually reached 

 the rocks of Sandur, where he became a statue of 

 stone, which marks the spot of the temple dedicated 

 to Koomarswamy. 



The system of caste and other religious customs, 

 which I shall have another opportunity of explaining, 

 are very strictly observed by all Brahmins. Of 

 temples the latter had none until the Vedic rehgion 

 was corrupted by the Turanian and Dravidian 

 converts. 



The streets of Bombay have much the same appear- 

 ance as those in the Levant ; they usually have a 

 shop below and a verandah on the first floor, with 

 fiat roofs above, and in the country they are sur- 



c 2 



