6 



No place in the western provinces of Hindoslan is reputed so holy 

 as Chandode; none at least exceed it: its temples and seminaries al- 

 most vie with the fanes of Jaggernaut, and colleges of Benares. Two 

 thirds of the inhabitants are brahmins and devotees of various de- 

 criptions: Hindoos of every caste from all parts of Guzerat, and pil- 

 grims from a greater distance, resort thither, at stated festivals, to 

 bathe in the Nerbudda, and perform their religious ceremonies on 

 its sacred banks; every temple has its respective images, every burr- 

 tree its holy lingam, or tutelary deity. There the brahmins seem 

 to be almost idolized, and inflated with the appellation given 

 them in the code of Menu, of " something transcendency divine." 

 Such they may be thought by their deluded disciples; to other 

 observers their earthly origin is sufficiently conspicuous. My duty 

 led me thither on occasional visits to collect the Company's share 

 of the revenue in their holy districts. I lived near four years 

 within a few miles of the solemn groves where those voluptuous 

 devotees pass their lives with the ramjannees, or dancing-girls at- 

 tached to the temples, in a sort of luxurious superstition and sanc- 

 tified indolence unknown in colder climates. 



The dewals, or temples, at Chandode daily undergo a variety 

 of lustral ceremonies: not only do the priests and worshippers of 

 the various deities in the Hindoo mythology, perform these fre- 

 quent ablutions, but the lingam, the images, and the altars are 

 washed and bathed with water, oil, and milk. We read in the 

 Ayeen Akbery, " that the brahmins wash the images of Jagger- 

 naut six times every day, and dress them each time in fresh clothes. 

 As soon as they are dressed fifty-six brahmins attend them, and 





