17(5 Rajendralala Mifcra— On the Temples of Deoghar. [No. 2, 
the head of various celebrated images in distant parts. In the south 
of India I have met pilgrims carrying their load from this place ; but by 
far the greater part goes to Devaghar in Virabhum where it is poured on 
the Priapus or Linga called Baidyanatha, to whom this water, taken from a 
scene of former pleasure, is considered as peculiarly acceptable.”* 
A special charge was formerly made for the offering of this water, and 
it was called Gangdjali. The priests now keep a supply of sacred water in 
phials to help such pilgrims as come without a supply. A few drops of 
this water are sprinkled on the flowers which the worshipper offers to the 
divinity. The water is described to be from Jangira, or from Badarinatha j 
or from Manasarovar according to the whim of the priest at the time. 
The verandas on the north, the west, and the south sides of the 
temple are reserved for such pilgrims as repair to the asylum of the divinity 
for special blessings. Their daily number varies from 20 to 40, and they 
include both men and women from all classes of the community, from the 
richest to the poorest. The plan adopted to extort the blessings is curious. 
It is a sort of a distress warrant on the divinity, threatening him with the 
sin of murder if he should decline, and reminds one of the Brehon law 
of distress, under which a creditor who required payment from a debtor of 
higher rank than himself should fast upon him. In the ordinary affairs 
of life this law is well known in this country from an early date under the 
name of “ sitting Dharna.” A.t one time it was so prevalent that the British 
Indian Government felt it necessary to pass a special law, Regulation VII 
of 1820, to prohibit it. When one fasts on a god the word ordinarily used 
is hatya or killing, for the resolution is to commit suicide by fasting, should 
the divinity implored decline to grant the favour sought. It is in fact 
Tliarna under another name. The blessings sought are various. Ordinarily 
men fast for the cure of their diseases ; women mostly for the cure of 
the ailments of their children, or for obtaining children. The usual prac¬ 
tice is for a pilgrim to bathe in the S'ivaganga tank in the morning, worship 
the lingam, and then to lie down on the bare pavement of the veranda till next 
morning, when he or she rises, performs his or her worship, drinks a mouthful 
of water from the vat on the north side, and then lies down again. This 
practice is continued for three days and three nights, in course of which the 
pleasure of the divinity is generally communicated to him or her in a 
dream. Sometimes the dream comes on the very first night, sometimes on 
the second or the third, and sometimes not at all; the dream, when vouchsafed, 
manifesting itself in such words as “ Go away, you are cured or “ Go, and 
do such and such things (naming them) and you will be curedor “ You 
will be cured j” or “ Your wish will be fulfilled in course of such a time” 
* Martin’s ‘Eastern India,’ Vol. II, p. 38. 
