Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 2.djvu/640

620 by all to be one of the finest in India. It is built of pure gray granite. Every pillar in it to the right and left is whitewashed. The natives always whitewash them to a certain height. On each side are representations of the king and his successors. You see him on the right under his canopy, and beside him his two wives. The story goes that Trimul Nayak married a daughter of the Rajah of Tanjore. The day after he brought her home he took her to see this magnificent building, which was just completed. After walking through it, as she did not say a word, he asked her why she had not spoken, and what she thought of it. She answered that her father had a better stable for his horses. In a fury he drew his dagger and stabbed her in the side, and it is said that, when the pillar was cut, and they sculptured the figure of the wife, the hole appeared in the side; and, although they changed the pillar three times, every morning after, they found the hole still there, as a warning to passionate husbands to keep their tempers. One of the pillars outside this temple, being very much exposed to the weather, is consequently much damaged. It represents Vishnu giving his sister in marriage to Siva, and every year there is a ceremony of marriage performed. But, while the ceremony is going on, a Bramin invariably sneezes, and as that is an omen of bad auspices, the marriage is postponed, and, as this has been going on year after year, it probably will to all eternity. That sneezing puts a stop to it.

The outside of this celebrated mundapum is similar to that we saw before at Trichinopoly, the two side-pillars being carved differently, the one on the right being Ravana, the celebrated giant, who was condemned to bear a mountain on his back in punishment for his sins. Exactly opposite is situated the celebrated Temple of Madura, the richest in India, with an income of £4,000 a year, and an enormous number of priests. The difference between this and the other at Trichinopoly is that this is all covered over, while that is uncovered. That one is very poor, while this is enormously rich. I ought to have said a few words here respecting Hindoo worship. There is not a single Hindoo temple dedicated to the worship of the one God, and they have no representation of Him. He is something too awful for that. They never address Him except through a priest, or one of his personifications, Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva. These are the three principal deities. Brahma is Creation, Vishnu is Preservation, and Siva Destruction. And, although it is said that there are 330,000,000 gods in India, yet the simple truth is, all these are only names given to one or other of these in any particular place where the god is worshipped. He is always named for some act or other which he is supposed to have performed at or near the place of worship. One or other of these three is the god, and there are 330,000,000 names of these gods. That is the whole secret of the Hindoo religion.

Passing into this celebrated temple, we come to the golden lotus-tank, one of the most celebrated tanks in India. It is supposed that