JUGGERNAUTH. 



year 600 ; and to whose memory the monks of Ramsey 

 founded at St Ives a Benedictine Priory. The town is 

 situated on the river Ouse, over which there is a hand- 

 tonne stone bridge, with four pointed and two semicir- 

 cular arches. There are three principal streets irregu- 

 larly arranged ; and though the town is modern, there 

 are no buildings deserving of notice. The parish church 

 is a tolerably neat structure : it consists of a nave, 

 chancel, and aides, and has a handsome tower, with a 

 spire. The spire of this church has been twice blown 

 down. The Baptists have two places of worship here, 

 and the Presbyterians and Quakers one each. Several 

 breweries and malt kilns have been established. The 

 inhabitants are chiefly employed in agriculture. In 

 1811, the town and parish of St Ives contained 



Inhabited houses 474 



Families , 507 



Do. employed in trade and manufactures 237 



Male* 1202 



Females 1224 



Total population 2426 



See the Beauliei of England and Wales, vol. rii. p. 479. 

 .11 <i'il. ItN.M I II. t,r .U 1,1.1 -\N\THA. (Jagalnalha, 

 the Lord of the World.) A celebrated place of Hin- 

 doo worship, in the district of Cuttack, on the sea-coast 

 of OriiM. It is situated in North Latitude 19 49' ; 

 and East Longitude 86 5' ; and stands' close to the 

 em shore, a few miles north-east of the Chilkalake, and 

 immediately adjacent to the town of Pursottom. The 

 town and temple are encompassed with low sand hills ; 

 and the surrounding country is extremely sterile. The 

 pagoda itself is a shapeless mass, and is no way re- 

 markable, except as an object of Hindoo veneration. 

 The idol is a carved block of wood, with a frightful vi- 

 age painted black, and a distended mouth of a bloody 

 colour. ( le i dressed in gorgeous apparel ; and his 

 appellation U one of the numerous name* of Vishnu, 

 toe preserving power of the universe, according to the 

 of the Brahmins. On festival days, the throne 



of the idol is placed upon a stupendous moveable tower, 

 bout 60 feet high, resting on wheels, which indent 

 the ground deeply as they turn slowly under the pon- 

 derous machine. He M accompanied by two other 

 idol*, hi* brother Balaram, and his sister Shuhudra, of 

 a white and yellow colour, each on a separate tower, 

 and sitting upon thrones of nearly an equal height At- 

 tached to the principal tower are six ropes, of the length 

 and sire of a ship's cable, by which the people draw it 

 along. The priett* and attendants are stationed around 

 the throne on the car ; and occasionally address the 

 worshipper* in libidinous song* and gesture*. Both 

 the walls of the temple and the side* ofthe car, are co- 

 vered with the most indecent emblems, in large and du- 

 rable sculpture. ( )bscenity and blood are the charac- 

 teristics of the idol's worship. As the tower moves 

 along, devotees, throwing themselves under the wheels, 

 1 to death ; and such arts are hailed with the 

 of the multitude a* the most acceptable 

 A body of prostitute* arc maintained in the 

 the use of the worshippers; and various 

 atic indecencies, which will not admit of 



;fonn a part of the service. A number of 

 i are kept in the place, which are generally 

 fed with vegetable* from the hands of the pilgrims ; 

 but, from the scarcity of vegetation, are commonly teen 

 walking about, and eating the fresh ordure ofthe wor- 

 ; crowds. In the temple, also, is preserved a 

 , which is considered as a most venera- 



ble and precious relic, and which few persons are al- 

 lowed to see. 



This temple of Juggernauth is esteemed the most sa- 

 cred of all the religious establishments ofthe Hindoos; 

 and the concourse of pilgrims by whom it is annually 

 visited, is immense, 'particularly in March, when the 

 Dole Jattrah takes place, and in July, when the Ruth 

 Jut trah is celebrated. The natives themselves, when 

 speaking of the numbers present at these festivals, 

 usually say, that a lack of people (100,000) would not 

 be missed. Dr. Carey is of opinion, that, on the lowest 

 calculation, 1,200,000 attend every year, of whom an 

 incredible proportion, (some suppose nine out of ten,) 

 die by the way, from want, fatigue, or disease. One 

 fact is certain, that at 50 miles distance, the approach to 

 the spot is known by the quantity of human bones 

 which are strewed by the way. Many old people take 

 the journey on purpose to die within the sacred pre- 

 cincts. The sand plains around the town are in some 

 places whitened with the bones of the pilgrims ; and 

 there is a spot at a little distance, called by the Euro- 

 peans Golgotha, where the dead bodies are usually cast 

 forth, and where dogs and vultures are seen continually 

 feeding upon them. Multitudes are crushed to death 

 by the pressure of the crowd ; and at one time, as men- 

 tioned by some of the missionaries who were present, 

 1 50 were killed around the temple gate. The vicinity 

 of the sea, and the arid nature of the soil, contribute to 

 prevent the contagion which might otherwise be pro- 

 duced by such a number of putrid carcases. 



A considerable revenue arises from the tax paid by 

 the pilgrims ; which, after defraying the expences of 

 the temple, goes to the government. In 1734, the 

 Rajah of Pursottom carried away the idol Juggcrnauth 

 beyond the boundaries of Orissa, and placed it upon a 

 mountain, and thus caused a loss in the revenue of the 

 province, of nine lacks of rupees per annum. In 1803, 

 when the province was wrested from the Mahrattas by 

 the British, they succeeded to all the rights of the pre- 

 ceding sovereign, and consequently to the revenue de- 

 rived from the resort of pilgrims to Juggernauth, but 

 the tax was never levied during the administration ofthe 

 Marquis of Wellesley ; and it was not till after his de- 

 parture from India, in 1806, that a law was made by 

 the Supreme Council of Bengal for regulating the ma- 

 nagement of the temple, and the taxation of the pil- 

 grims. The sum realized, during the first year, amount- 

 ed to 1 17,490 sicca rupees ; and the annual expenditure 

 for the support of the worship, is computed at 56,000, 

 to provide for which, besides established endowments, 

 consisting of land* and villages, an allowance of 20 

 per cent, on the net receipts from the tax is granted by 

 the British government In 1809, the superintendence 

 of the temple, and the controul of the priests, were vest- 

 ed in the Rajah of Khoordah, who was directed to fol- 

 low the recorded rules of the institution, or the ancient 

 established usage. Various sects of devotees and reli- 

 gious persons are, by long custom, exempted from the 

 payment of the tax ; and likewise all the inhabitants 

 who have been born, or have resided with their fami- 

 lies for the space often years within the district of Cut- 

 tack, between the rivers Bytumee and Ganjam, which 

 is the holy land of Juggernauth. All pilgrims, also, in 

 a state of actual poverty, or declaring their condition 

 according to certain ceremonies, are allowed access to 

 the temple for three days ; and all the individuals who 

 carry water from the Ganges to pour it over the idol, 

 or who have resorted to the town of Juggernauthpoor 

 for purposes of trade, escape the tax. Those who are . 



p 



Jugger- 

 nauth. 



