OP THE HINDUS. 31 



teachers are usually of the Brahraanical order, but the disciples may be of any 



cast.* 



Besides the tem-ples appropriated to Vishnu and his consort, and their se- 

 veral forms, including those of Krishna and Rama, and those which are ce- 

 lebrated as objects of pilgrimage, as LaksJimi-Balaji^ Rdmndlh, and Rangandth, 

 in the south ; Badarinat'h, in the Himalaya, Jaganndfh, in Orissa, and Dwdraka, 

 on the Malabar coast, images of metal or stone are usually set up in the houses 

 of the private members of this sect, which are daily worshipped, and the tem- 

 ples and dwellings are all decorated with the Sdlagrdma stone and Tulas't plant. 



The most striking peculiarities in the practices of this sect, are the 

 individual preparation, and scrupulous privacy of their meals: they must not 

 eat in cotton garments, but having bathed, must put on woollen or silk: the 

 teachers allow their select pupils to assist them, but, in general, all the Rdrnd- 

 nujas cook for themselves, and should the meal during this process, or whilst 

 they are eating, attract even the looks of a stranger, the operation is instantly 

 stopped, and the viands buried in the ground : a similar delicacy, in this res- 

 pect, prevails amongst some other classes of Hindus, especially of the Rqjapiii 

 families, but it is not carried to so preposterous an extent.! 



The chief ceremony of initiation in all Hindu sects, is the communication 

 by the teacher to the disciple of the Manira, which generally consists of the 

 name of some deity, or a short address to him ; it is communicated in a whis- 



* The Mantra, and mark, are never bestowed on any person of impure birth. — Buch. 

 Mysore, 1, 146. 



\ It is said, however, that there are two divisions of the sect, one called Avarani, from 

 Avarana, screening, or surrounding, and the other Ajidvarini, from the members not observing such 

 punctilious privacy. 



