Page:Wanderings of a Pilgrim Vol 2.djvu/502

 CHAPTER LXVIII.

SKETCHES ON THE RIVER FROM BINDACHUN TO ALLAHABAD.

"IF YOU BELIEVE, IT IS A GOD; IF NOT, PLASTER DETACHED FROM A WALL ."

Bindachun—Devī Ghāt—The Temple of Bhawānī—Bhagwān—The Thug—The Hajjam—The Tashma-baz Thugs—The Pleasure of Wandering—Sirsa—Munyah Ghāt—Arail—Arrival at Allahabad—Native Sugar-cane Mills.

1844, Dec. 11th.—We lugāoed early in the evening four miles above Mirzapūr at the far-famed Bindachun. The first remarkable object on approaching the place is the ghāt of the Devī (goddess) which stands out into the river; it is adorned with six bastions, which present a very fort-like appearance, and just above it we moored our boats. Taking an old bearer with me, whilst our people were preparing their evening meal, I hastened up to see the famous temple of Bhawānī, the place of resort of the Thugs, where they meet and take the vows. I ascended the steps of the ghāt of which there are about eighty, and very steep; from their summit you enter the bazār. This is a most curious place, and it is so narrow it can scarcely be called a street, being not more than six feet in the widest part, and in many places the breadth does not exceed three or four. It is lined on both sides with native shops, as thick as possible,