Page:The Land of the Veda.djvu/428

418 the magnificent curtains, embroidered in gold, which were hung around the court, perhaps twenty in number.

In the sanctuary we found two Parisnaths, (or Parswanaths,) one of them as large as life, in black marble, with a genuine negro type of countenance, high cheek bones, thick lips, and curly hair. On asking the reason, the priest informed us that their god Parisnath was exactly like a negro, an idea which they hold in common with all Buddhists.

Both of the venerable deities had their noses smashed, and looked, in consequence, rather ridiculous. I asked the priest, “Who mutilated them?” He said, “The Mohammedan Sepoys did so, and then the Sikhs came afterward, and robbed us of every thing they could carry off.” This temple, for its size, is certainly the most splendid place of worship I ever saw. The Motee Musjid, in Agra, is more chastely elegant; but there was about the structure and appearance of this edifice something which, though “not worthy to be compared,” yet helped to a more adequate idea of that matchless “house of God” which the liberality of Jewish piety erected on Mount Zion.

From this we went to see the Jumma Musjid, the greatest Mohammedan “cathedral” of the East, and one of the very largest, if not the largest place of worship, in the world. The view from the top of the minarets was magnificent. These lofty towers were occupied by the leaders of the defense during the siege, and in that vast court below thousands of those blood-thirsty fanatics, from sunrise to sunset, during that long anxiety, implored God, for Mohammed's sake, to aid them in exterminating the followers of the hated Messiah. Here they “raged” and “took counsel together,” but God, instead of answering, rejected their prayers, confounded their devices, and “dashed them” and their government “in pieces like a potter's vessel,” and here was the center of the fearful wreck of all their purposes.

The whole place was desecrated. Native soldiers were cooking their food in the cloisters. The high priest's throne was smashed, and every thing valuable carried off. I entered their treasure room,