THROUGH THE HEART OF HINDUSTAN 



403 



but I was urged to 

 take the old man's 

 picture under the 

 very eyes of those 

 who sought to pre- 

 vent it. Verily, the 

 holy man is a force in 

 India, especially at 

 such a time and place 

 as the Megh Mela at 

 Allahabad. 



BENARES, A CITY OF 

 PERPETUAL PIETY 



From Allahabad to 

 Benares is a step 

 from periodical pil- 

 grimage to perpetual 

 piety. Benares is 

 enough to sicken a 

 surgeon. Mark Twain 

 has described it so 

 truthfully that subse- 

 quent writers have 

 had the choice of quo- 

 tation or paraphrase. 



It is a city of nar- 

 row streets in which 

 the heavy scent of 

 jasmine flowers be- 

 comes a stench and 

 the holiest spots foul 

 retreats. Luckily, 

 there are a few places 

 where the foreigner 

 is not allowed to en- 

 ter. But the sight of 

 flower-decked bulls 

 crowding spindle- 

 shanked children 

 from the streets is 

 enough to remind one 

 that he is in a land where human life is 

 cheap, but where a riot may be started 

 by the killing of peacock or pigeon or 

 monkey. 



Benares is a crescent waterfront on a 

 filthy stream backed by a malodorous 

 city. According to Mark Twain, a self- 

 respecting germ won't live in Ganges 

 water, but this does not prevent the peo- 

 ple from bathing in it, drinking it, wash- 

 ing their clothes in it, and tossing half- 

 burned bodies into it, to float about in 

 the backwaters around some ruined ma- 

 sonry until flood carries them down the 

 stream. 



Photograph by Maynard Owen Williams 



THE BURMESE SMILE IN AN INDIAN SETTING 



At Buddh Gaya, whither Buddhists flock from many quarters, the 

 merry smile of the Mongoloid Burmans can always be seen. The 

 two young nuns had just been initiated and the one in the middle 

 still felt the responsibility (see text, page 465). 



Across from the city is a low plain of 

 soft sand, along whose shoreward edge 

 a row of vultures can often be seen. 

 They are lazy beasts. A vulture's life in 

 Benares is too easy and opulent to be 

 admirable. 



For three miles the river front is lined 

 with a succession of ghats and palaces 

 which make it a vision of beauty. Trav- 

 elers usually embark on small boats 

 which are rowed up and down the 

 Ganges, giving intimate views of the 

 bathing and other activities. From this 

 vantage point the city is of surpassing 

 interest. 



