42 
E. T. Atkinson —Notes on the history 
[No. 1 , 
has moved the schools of Greece or Rome has equally shared the attention 
of Indian thinkers, and in the kaleidoscopic mass of beliefs that can be 
studied in any considerable Indian town, we may perceive analogies of 
the most striking character to the broad forms of belief and modes of 
thought in many European cities. 
Religion in the Himalaya .—In examining the condition of religion 
in the Himalayan region we find a curious blending of pre-Brahmanical, 
Brahmanical and Buddhistic practices which it will take some time and 
attention to separate and ascribe to their original sources. It would 
doubtless be easy to dispose of the question by stating that the prevailing 
religion is a form of Hinduism. This would be perfectly true, but at the 
same time could convey no definitive idea to the inquirer’s mind as to 
what the real living belief of the people is. For the more complete 
examination of the forms of religion existing in the H. W. Himalaya we 
possess a record of the teaching in 350 temples in Kumaon, in about 550 
temples in Garhwal and in about 100 temples in Dehra Dun and Jaunsar- 
Bawar. For the 900 temples in Kumaon and Garhwal we know the 
locality in which each is situate, the name of the deity worshipped, the 
broad theological division to which the deity belongs, the class of people 
who frequent the temple, and the principal festivals observed. The 
analysis of these lists shows that there are 250 Saiva temples in Kumaon 
and 350 in Garhwal, and that there are but 35 Yaishnava temples in 
Kumaon and 61 in Garhwal. To the latter class may, in a certain sense, 
be added 65 temples to Kagaraja in Garhwal which are, by common report, 
affiliated to the Vaishnava sects, but in which Sfiva also has a place under 
the form of Bhairava. Of the S'aiva temples, 130 in Garhwal and 64 in 
Kumaon are dedicated to the S'akti or female form alone, but of the 
Vaishnava temples in both districts only eight. The S'akti form of both 
S iva and Vishnu, however, occurs also in the temples dedicated to Kagaraja 
and Bhairava, or rather these deities and their S'aktis are popularly held 
to be forms of Vishnu and Sfiva and their Saktis. Of the Shiva Shkti 
temples, 42 in Garhwal and 18 in Kumaon are dedicated to Kali, whilst 
the Shkti forms of the Bhairava tem]3les are also known as emanations of 
Kali. Kanda comes next in popularity and then Chandika and Durga. 
The remaining temples are dedicated to the worship of Siirya, Ganesa 
and the minor deities and deified mortals and the pre-Brahmanical village 
gods who will be noticed hereafter. The outcome of this examination is 
therefore that Siva and Vishnu and their female forms are the principal 
objects of worship, but with them, either as their emanations or as 
separate divine entities, the representatives of the polydsemonistic cults 
of the older tribes are objects of worship both in temples and in domestic 
ceremonies. 
