l66 AN ACCOUNT OF THE SCULPTURES 



" monuments to the honour of this God, as if they had 

 " been born to hew rocks and great (tones, and lay 

 " them up in heaps. Thefe Kings are now happy 

 " fpirits, having merited it by thefe labours." And 

 again he fays, " For this God, above all other, they 

 " feem to have a high refpect. and devotion," Sec. 



And from other authorities it will appear, that this 

 worfhip has formerly been by no means confined to 

 Ceylone, but has prevailed in feveral parts of India 

 prior to that of the Bramins : nay, that this has been 

 the cafe even fo late as the ninth and twelfth centuries 

 of the Christian era. 



In the well-known * Anciennes Relations, tranflated 

 from the Arabic, by that eminent orientalift Eusebius 

 Rena'jdot, the Arabian traveller gives this account of 

 the cuftom of dancing-women, which continues to this 

 dav in the Deckan, but is not known among the Hindoos 

 of Bengal) or Hmdojlan Proper. 



t; There are in India public women, called women 

 " of the idol, and the origin of this cuftom is this: 

 " When a woman has made a vow for the purpofe of 

 " having children, if (he brings into the world a pretty 

 " daughter, fhe carries it to Bod, (fo they call the idol 

 " which they adore,) and leaves it with himt." 



This 



* Anciennes Relations ties Indes et de la Chine, de deux Voy- 

 agcurs Moliametans, qui y allerent dans le neuvierue Siecle.— 

 Fur is, 1718, 8vo. 



-j- " II ya dans les Indes des femmes publique?, appell<!-s, femmes- 

 " de l'idole, 1'origine de cette ccustume est telle; Lors qu'une 

 " femme a fait un voeu pour avoir des enfans, si eUe met au mondt 

 " une belle title, elle Taporte au Bod, e'est a'fnsi qu'ils appellent 

 •' l'idole qu'ils adyrent, uupres duquel elle la laisse, &c." Auv, 

 Rel. p. 10<J. 



