PLACES VISITED IN INDIA. 149 



ON THE GANGES AT BENARES (p. 133). This photograph gives 

 a closer view of one of the temples at Benares on the river 

 bank. It is a Hindu temple, with one of the antique spirelike 

 roofs of many buttresses arranged in pyramidal form. 



FAKIRS (p. 159). The Fakirs, a group of whom is shown in 

 this photograph, are religious fanatics who wander all over 

 India, having no possessions, but living on charity. They wear 

 very little clothing, but usually smear their bodies over with 

 mud or ashes ; and their hair, which is frequently a yard or 

 more in length, as well as their beards, are clotted with mud 

 and dirt ; the figure on the left is an illustration of this. 



THE SACRED BULL AT BENARES (p. 159). This photograph 

 is taken in the very heart of Benares, where carriage driving is 

 impossible, so crowded together are the shrines and buildings. 

 The sacred cows, each with a bell round its neck to warn the 

 passers by, lurched along lazily, pushing us aside in the narrow 

 passages. The photograph shows in a comparatively large 

 square, a covered structure with a huge marble bull painted red 

 in front of it. This structure is the temple of the " Certainty 

 of Salvation." Here the worshipper at Benares, after the round 

 of special shrines he has come to visit, drinks and receives 

 assurance of success in his task ; he then makes an offering to 

 the priests, hangs a garland of flowers round the head of the 

 famous bull sacred to Mahadwa, and wends his way homewards, 

 happy, for he has drunk of the water which still is one of the 

 favoured homes of Siva. 



A MARKET OUTSIDE ONE OF THE GATES OF LAHORE (p. 123). 

 Beyond the gate can be seen a glimpse of one of the most 

 picturesque of the very narrow streets of the city. 



JAIN TEMPLE AT DILWARRA (p. 133). This temple stands on 

 Mount Aboo, and was built about A.D. 1032, by a merchant, 

 Vimala Sah. Dedicated to Parswanatha, a Jain saint. The 

 interior is of elaborately carved white marble brought probably 

 300 miles, and carried up 4000 feet from the plain. 



BATHING SCENE (p. 148). The accompanying view was taken 

 at Allahabad on the second morning after the eclipse, during the 

 Mela or religious fair which is held there in January at the con- 

 fluence of the Ganges and Jumna, a specially sacred spot. It is 

 visited by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims for the purpose of 

 bathing in the river and worshipping it, the most auspicious 

 times being at full moon and during eclipses. .Throughout 

 India bathing is an important religious ceremony. 



