DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.640#0056
ON THE HINDOO RELIGION. xliii
He is painted as sitting on a tiger, and carrying a bow and:
arrows : is worshipped by the wood-cutters in the forests, to
insure protection from wild beasts.
11. Deified Beings in strange shapes.— Urdhu-nareeshiwrv. This
compound deity is Shivfi and Doorga united in one body. The
fable respecting this singular transformation will be found in
vol. i. p. 239. Religious worship is paid to this idol.—Krishnu-
Kalee. In this image of Krishna and Kalee united in one body,
vice itself is personified and worshipped. See vol. i. p. 240.—
Huree-Huru. Another compound deity, Vishnoo and Shivu.
The worship paid to these idols appears to owe its origin to
stories in the pooraniis; but the original idea, meant to be con-
veyed by two of them, no doubt, was,, that the Great Spirit and
matter are one.
12. Tlie worship of Human Beings. The Hindoos worship their
spiritual guides; also bramhuns, and their wives and daughters:
and, among the vamaeharees, women of the -lowest cast, and
even prostitutes, are worshipped with rites too abominable to be
recorded. See vol. i. p. 247-
13. The worship of Beasts. The coie, as a form of Bhuguvfttee,
is an object of worship, and receives the homage of the Hindoos
at an annual festival i: (see vol. i. p. 249.) Hunoomanu, the monkey,
has also been placed among the gods, as a form of Shivii. Tem-
ples to this god are to be seen, and in some places his image is
worshipped, daily; he is even chosen by many as their guardian
deity. Hunoomanu bears some resemblance to Pan, and like
i The very dung of the cow is eaten as an atonement for sin, and, with
its urine, is used in worship. A Hindoo does not carry any thing out of
his house in the morning, till he has rubbed his door-way with cow-dung.
Notwithstanding this reverence, the bullocks employed in carrying bur-
dens and at the plough, are used more cruelly by the Hindoos than any
other animals. ' The Athenians and almost all other nations thought it
a very great crime to kill the ox, insomuch that the offender was thought
to deserve death.' Potter's Antiquities of Greece, vol. i. p. 217.
f 2
He is painted as sitting on a tiger, and carrying a bow and:
arrows : is worshipped by the wood-cutters in the forests, to
insure protection from wild beasts.
11. Deified Beings in strange shapes.— Urdhu-nareeshiwrv. This
compound deity is Shivfi and Doorga united in one body. The
fable respecting this singular transformation will be found in
vol. i. p. 239. Religious worship is paid to this idol.—Krishnu-
Kalee. In this image of Krishna and Kalee united in one body,
vice itself is personified and worshipped. See vol. i. p. 240.—
Huree-Huru. Another compound deity, Vishnoo and Shivu.
The worship paid to these idols appears to owe its origin to
stories in the pooraniis; but the original idea, meant to be con-
veyed by two of them, no doubt, was,, that the Great Spirit and
matter are one.
12. Tlie worship of Human Beings. The Hindoos worship their
spiritual guides; also bramhuns, and their wives and daughters:
and, among the vamaeharees, women of the -lowest cast, and
even prostitutes, are worshipped with rites too abominable to be
recorded. See vol. i. p. 247-
13. The worship of Beasts. The coie, as a form of Bhuguvfttee,
is an object of worship, and receives the homage of the Hindoos
at an annual festival i: (see vol. i. p. 249.) Hunoomanu, the monkey,
has also been placed among the gods, as a form of Shivii. Tem-
ples to this god are to be seen, and in some places his image is
worshipped, daily; he is even chosen by many as their guardian
deity. Hunoomanu bears some resemblance to Pan, and like
i The very dung of the cow is eaten as an atonement for sin, and, with
its urine, is used in worship. A Hindoo does not carry any thing out of
his house in the morning, till he has rubbed his door-way with cow-dung.
Notwithstanding this reverence, the bullocks employed in carrying bur-
dens and at the plough, are used more cruelly by the Hindoos than any
other animals. ' The Athenians and almost all other nations thought it
a very great crime to kill the ox, insomuch that the offender was thought
to deserve death.' Potter's Antiquities of Greece, vol. i. p. 217.
f 2