DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.635#0188
ANNAPURNA TEMPLE
175
quadrangle and round it many times, stretching himself
full-length on the sloppy floor at every step, and only
pausing to salute the goddess as he passes in front of
the shrine. He has just come from making the pil-
grimage of the Panch-kosi road—fifty
weary miles in the same way—in ful-
filment of a vow.
Many are the objects for which
Hindus will perform such penances,
sometimes to acquire worldly advan-
tages in the present life—for they be-
lieve that the merit they acquire will
sooner or later be rewarded in some
tangible form—sometimes to excite pity
and to collect alms, perhaps for religious
purposes, or perhaps for a dowry for a
daughter—sometimes in hopes of ven-
geance on an enemy, to be gratified
in a future incarnation.
Another man spends half an hour
with intense seriousness before the
monkey god, Hanuman, rubbing the
limbs of the image with the most tender
solicitude, as if the massage would be
pleasing to the deity, and muttering
prayers and formulas continually. On
the floor of the porch, in front of the shrine, quantities
of sweetmeats, rice, and other grain are collected—■
charitable offerings for Annapurna to distribute; for,
in a land where famine afflicts the people so sorely,
Annapurna's aid is often wanted. Many poor mothers
bring their children to be fed in the upper gallery
which runs round the quadrangle. Birds and animals
A SACRIFICIAL
SPOON
175
quadrangle and round it many times, stretching himself
full-length on the sloppy floor at every step, and only
pausing to salute the goddess as he passes in front of
the shrine. He has just come from making the pil-
grimage of the Panch-kosi road—fifty
weary miles in the same way—in ful-
filment of a vow.
Many are the objects for which
Hindus will perform such penances,
sometimes to acquire worldly advan-
tages in the present life—for they be-
lieve that the merit they acquire will
sooner or later be rewarded in some
tangible form—sometimes to excite pity
and to collect alms, perhaps for religious
purposes, or perhaps for a dowry for a
daughter—sometimes in hopes of ven-
geance on an enemy, to be gratified
in a future incarnation.
Another man spends half an hour
with intense seriousness before the
monkey god, Hanuman, rubbing the
limbs of the image with the most tender
solicitude, as if the massage would be
pleasing to the deity, and muttering
prayers and formulas continually. On
the floor of the porch, in front of the shrine, quantities
of sweetmeats, rice, and other grain are collected—■
charitable offerings for Annapurna to distribute; for,
in a land where famine afflicts the people so sorely,
Annapurna's aid is often wanted. Many poor mothers
bring their children to be fed in the upper gallery
which runs round the quadrangle. Birds and animals
A SACRIFICIAL
SPOON