DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.611#0050
34 CHAPTER III.
bathings should be performed on the same day to se-
cure the esired merit. The five spots are:—1. Assi,
2. Dasashwamedh, 3. Barna-sangam, then back to
4. Panchganga, and 5. Manikarnika.
A confluence (sangam) of a stream with the Ganges
is often regarded as a spot of special sanctity. There
is the Barna-sangam, where the Barna joins the Ganges,
the greatly reputed Sangam or Tirbeni at Allahabad,
where the Jamna (and a third river not visible to the
faithless) unites with the Ganges.
At the Assi end of the city the buildings lie back
from the river, leaving a considerable stretch of sand.
At Assi Ghat itself there are no stone steps for the
bathers, but year by year after the rains have ceased,
platforms of mud and sand are levelled up for their
convenience.
Among the buildaigs above the river here there is
a pretty little akhara or monastery belonging to the
Nanak-panthis. With an inconsistency, by no means
unusual, there is on the platform a small temple con-
taining an image of Mahadeva. It is a remarkable fact
that although several of the reformers, such as Nanak,
tried to eradicate idolatry, there seems to be a strong
tendency for their followers to drift back into Hinduism,
in which idolatry holds such a prominent position.
Next to this a new temple is being erected. This is
a "Panch-mandil," i.e., five temples are grouped together.
In one is Vishnu and Lakshml, in a second Mahadeva,
in a third Krishna and Radha, while in the fourth and
fifth are duplicates of Ram, Sita, and Lakshman, double
honour thus being conferred on Ram, because he is
the " isht-devata " of the builder of the temple, i. e., the
specially chosen god, "the patron saint," so to speak.
A similar temple to this was built only a few years
ago by another member of the same family. It is a very
bathings should be performed on the same day to se-
cure the esired merit. The five spots are:—1. Assi,
2. Dasashwamedh, 3. Barna-sangam, then back to
4. Panchganga, and 5. Manikarnika.
A confluence (sangam) of a stream with the Ganges
is often regarded as a spot of special sanctity. There
is the Barna-sangam, where the Barna joins the Ganges,
the greatly reputed Sangam or Tirbeni at Allahabad,
where the Jamna (and a third river not visible to the
faithless) unites with the Ganges.
At the Assi end of the city the buildings lie back
from the river, leaving a considerable stretch of sand.
At Assi Ghat itself there are no stone steps for the
bathers, but year by year after the rains have ceased,
platforms of mud and sand are levelled up for their
convenience.
Among the buildaigs above the river here there is
a pretty little akhara or monastery belonging to the
Nanak-panthis. With an inconsistency, by no means
unusual, there is on the platform a small temple con-
taining an image of Mahadeva. It is a remarkable fact
that although several of the reformers, such as Nanak,
tried to eradicate idolatry, there seems to be a strong
tendency for their followers to drift back into Hinduism,
in which idolatry holds such a prominent position.
Next to this a new temple is being erected. This is
a "Panch-mandil," i.e., five temples are grouped together.
In one is Vishnu and Lakshml, in a second Mahadeva,
in a third Krishna and Radha, while in the fourth and
fifth are duplicates of Ram, Sita, and Lakshman, double
honour thus being conferred on Ram, because he is
the " isht-devata " of the builder of the temple, i. e., the
specially chosen god, "the patron saint," so to speak.
A similar temple to this was built only a few years
ago by another member of the same family. It is a very