DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0323
Sraddha Ceremonies. 311
for whom the Sraddhas are celebrated, and the size of the
balls and the materials of which they are composed differ
according to the caste and the country of those who perform
the rite. I saw one party in the act of forming fourteen
or fifteen Pindas with meal, which were of a much larger
size than large marbles. This party was said to have come
from the Dekhan. Sometimes the Pindas were placed on
betel-leaves with pieces of money, which were afterwards
appropriated by the priests; and sometimes the water used
was taken out of little pots by dipping stalks of Kusa grass
into the fluid and sprinkling it over the balls. At the end of
all the ceremonies a prayer was said for pardon lest any
minute part of the ceremonial had been unintentionally
omitted. Then finally all the earthen platters employed
were carried to a particular stone in the precincts of the
temple and dashed to pieces there. No platter is allowed to
be used a second time. The Pindas are left to be eaten by
birds and other animals, or reverently deposited in the river.
It is remarkable that some of the ablest and most en-
lightened men of India are unable to resist the impulse which
takes every Hindu once in his life, if possible, to both
Benares and Gaya, though they are perfectly aware that from
the moment of their arrival within ten miles of these sacred
localities they are certain to become the prey of a well-
organized army of rapacious priests. Mr. Deshmukh1 gave
me a brief account of his visit to Gaya in 1876. He went
there, like others of his fellow-countrymen, with the object of
performing some of the Sraddha ceremonies.
He is a Cit-pavan Brahman (see note, p. 270), and gene-
rally opposed to all superstitious practices, yet he thinks it
right to maintain his influence by conforming, as far as
practicable, to old customs. Starting from Patna he had to
1 I mean the Hon. G. H. Deshmukh, who was then judge at Nasik,
and whom I have often quoted before. The Government, in recognition
of his services, has conferred on him the personal title of Rao Bahadur.
for whom the Sraddhas are celebrated, and the size of the
balls and the materials of which they are composed differ
according to the caste and the country of those who perform
the rite. I saw one party in the act of forming fourteen
or fifteen Pindas with meal, which were of a much larger
size than large marbles. This party was said to have come
from the Dekhan. Sometimes the Pindas were placed on
betel-leaves with pieces of money, which were afterwards
appropriated by the priests; and sometimes the water used
was taken out of little pots by dipping stalks of Kusa grass
into the fluid and sprinkling it over the balls. At the end of
all the ceremonies a prayer was said for pardon lest any
minute part of the ceremonial had been unintentionally
omitted. Then finally all the earthen platters employed
were carried to a particular stone in the precincts of the
temple and dashed to pieces there. No platter is allowed to
be used a second time. The Pindas are left to be eaten by
birds and other animals, or reverently deposited in the river.
It is remarkable that some of the ablest and most en-
lightened men of India are unable to resist the impulse which
takes every Hindu once in his life, if possible, to both
Benares and Gaya, though they are perfectly aware that from
the moment of their arrival within ten miles of these sacred
localities they are certain to become the prey of a well-
organized army of rapacious priests. Mr. Deshmukh1 gave
me a brief account of his visit to Gaya in 1876. He went
there, like others of his fellow-countrymen, with the object of
performing some of the Sraddha ceremonies.
He is a Cit-pavan Brahman (see note, p. 270), and gene-
rally opposed to all superstitious practices, yet he thinks it
right to maintain his influence by conforming, as far as
practicable, to old customs. Starting from Patna he had to
1 I mean the Hon. G. H. Deshmukh, who was then judge at Nasik,
and whom I have often quoted before. The Government, in recognition
of his services, has conferred on him the personal title of Rao Bahadur.