185 
And the voice of prayer is heard within this sylvan 
oratory; but, alas ! it is not directed to Him who 
alone can answer prayer, but “ unto gods that cannot 
save.” 
Under the shadow of the banyan the Brahmins spend, 
or rather waste, much of their time in religious seclu¬ 
sion. They always plant one near their religious edi¬ 
fices, and, in those villages where there are no temples, 
they place an image under a banyan, and thus “ find 
a fane in every sacred grove.” The sanctity of its 
character is so completely established, that to injure 
it in any way is an act almost equal in atrocity to 
mutilating or destroying a cow, an animal held in the 
greatest veneration by this superstitious people. 
This undue regard for the banyan may have origin¬ 
ated in its real utility; for it is the greatest boon to 
the country where it is indigenous; and the thick shade 
of its far extended boughs is duly appreciated both by 
the natives and European settlers. 
“ Each tree,” says Forbes, “ is itself a grove, and 
some are of an amazing size, as they are continually 
increasing, and, contrary to most other animal and 
vegetable productions, seem exempted from decay; for 
eveiy blanch from the main body r throws out its roots, 
at first in small fibres, several yards from the ground, 
