126 
SCENES IN INDIA. 
indeed the superstitious adoration paid to the Ganges 
may be daily seen. In the estimation of the Hin- 
doos,, there is not a name upon earth, and scarcely 
in heaven,, so sacred. Its waters are said to descend 
from above^ and to purify from every stain the man 
who undergoes in them a thorough ablution. To die 
upon its banks, moistened by its stream, is deemed a 
sure passport to paradise. Journeys extending to 
thousands of miles are undertaken for the purpose of 
beholding and bathing in its sacred current ; many rash 
devotees even yield themselves to a voluntary death 
amid its waves, fancying that they thus secure com- 
plete felicity in the future world ; others devote their 
offspring to a similar destiny. 
The variety of the buildings in this vast city may 
be said, humanly speaking, to be almost infinite ; and, 
distinct as its decorative features are, exhibiting the 
ancient Hindoo architecture in all its various but op- 
posed beauties of detail and exquisiteness of ornament — 
for it varies considerably from the modern- — Benares 
may be said to present objects to the contemplation 
of the artist and virtuoso, such as, perhaps, will be 
found in no other city in the world in greater profusion. 
The only Mahomedan building of any note which it 
contains is the Musjid, a large mosque built by the Em- 
peror Aurungzebe to humble the stubborn fanaticism 
of the Hindoos ; for he was himself too great a bigot to 
look upon bigotry with an indulgent eye. The mosque 
is ornamented at either angle by two lofty minarets, 
from which the tyrant could command a sight of the 
whole city. It was erected upon the former site and 
with the materials of one of the most sacred temples 
