DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.614#0006
Yl PREFACE.
and character. The task I have set myself is not that
of discussing the religious systems existing there,—
which would be an unnecessary undertaking, it having
been so frequently accomplished by abler hands,—but
of giving a representation of Benares as she was in the
past, and as she is in the present. Her early condition—
her connexion with ancient Buddhism—her architectural
remains—her famous temples, holy "wells and tanks, and
numerous ghats or stairs leading down to the Ganges—
the legends concerning them—the peculiar customs at
the temples—the ceremonies of the idolater—the modes
of worship—the religious festivals, and other topics,
illustrative of the character which Benares maintains
as the sacred city of India, are dwelt upon, with some
amount of detail, in this volume. I have deemed it
of moment, also, in a book of this nature, to make some
observations on the influence which education, European
civilization, and, above all, Christianity, are now exert-
ing upon the city. As Benares has held a foremost
place in the history of India for two thousand five
hundred years, at the least, so, in all likelihood, she is
destined to retain that position in the new era of en-
lightenment which has already dawned upon the land.
Portions of this work have, at various times, appeared
in print, in contributions to the Calcutta Beview and
the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and in a
and character. The task I have set myself is not that
of discussing the religious systems existing there,—
which would be an unnecessary undertaking, it having
been so frequently accomplished by abler hands,—but
of giving a representation of Benares as she was in the
past, and as she is in the present. Her early condition—
her connexion with ancient Buddhism—her architectural
remains—her famous temples, holy "wells and tanks, and
numerous ghats or stairs leading down to the Ganges—
the legends concerning them—the peculiar customs at
the temples—the ceremonies of the idolater—the modes
of worship—the religious festivals, and other topics,
illustrative of the character which Benares maintains
as the sacred city of India, are dwelt upon, with some
amount of detail, in this volume. I have deemed it
of moment, also, in a book of this nature, to make some
observations on the influence which education, European
civilization, and, above all, Christianity, are now exert-
ing upon the city. As Benares has held a foremost
place in the history of India for two thousand five
hundred years, at the least, so, in all likelihood, she is
destined to retain that position in the new era of en-
lightenment which has already dawned upon the land.
Portions of this work have, at various times, appeared
in print, in contributions to the Calcutta Beview and
the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, and in a