1870.] An Account of Gopilmuni and its Antiquities. 237 



pil, she agreed in future to appear at that place for an hour at the 

 time of the Baroni festival, in consequence of which the stream flow- 

 ing under the hermitage of Copil became sacred on that particular 

 day, and attracted crowds of pilgrims from the surrounding villages. 

 March 22nd, 1868. — At dawn, I went to the river side to wit- 

 ness the bathing of the pilgrims. In order to have a better view of 

 the scene, I entered a boat on the river, and rowed up to the 

 place where the hermitage or the temple of Copil is supposed to lie 

 buried beneath the waters. To my front was the tomb of Ja'far- 

 AuHa, which both Hindus and Muhammadans revere as con- 

 taining the mortal remains of one who knew the past, the present, 

 and the future. On my right, stood the Nimba tree which is said 

 to have witnessed the birth, suicide, and resurrection of Bagnath 

 Mohunt : for three days after he had buried himself alive under its 

 shade, his disciples could find no trace of his body under the earth. 

 On my left was the temple of Copileshuri, containing the un- 

 sightly image of a naked goddess standing with up-lifted hands 

 and protruding tongue over the prostrate body of her divine lord, 

 and rendered still more hideous by wreaths of bloody heads hang- 

 ing by way of ornament from her neck down to her knees. In the 

 space enclosed between these sacred monuments of by-gone ages, 

 were assembled about four thousand pilgrims, eager to wash off 

 their sins at the ghat where Copil's mother is supposed to have seen 

 the Ganga. Husbands going arm in arm with their bashful wives, 

 and women taking their infant children on their breasts, rushed 

 promiscuously to the stream. Many of them were provided with a 

 small piece of bark from the plantain tree containing a few grains 

 of rice and teel, some leaves from the tulsi, a piece or two of 

 ripe plantain, and some sweetmeats. Over these they pronounced 

 mantras dictated by their priest, and then throwing a portion 

 into the stream, greedily devoured the rest. Several were seen to 

 offer sweetmeats to Copileshuri, which gave the officiating priest 

 an opportunity of playing the part of a shopkeeper with a ven- 

 geance ; for he had set up a shop of his own, from which the 

 pilgrims were required to purchase the sweetmeats, as being most 

 acceptable to the goddess, and as soon as they were offered before 

 her image, they were again transferred to his shop and sold to the 



