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THE GREAT TEMPLE.
have to go through a severe ritual; they must, if possible, bathe before starting, and at the end of each Pilgrims' day, and must walk barefoot, must provide for observances. their own wants without receiving from or giving to others, must not quarrel or use bad language on the road, and must give gifts to the priests of the Mankarnika well at the end of the journey.
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Puri.
In a somewhat different way from Benares, Puri (the city) on the coast of Orissa is as famous and holy in the eyes of Hindus. Here Vishnu is worshipped as Jagannath (the Lord of the World); and a series of notable festivals throughout the year keep up a continual round of religious excitement, culminating in the famous Car Festival, attended by something like 100,000 pilgrims. There seems little doubt that Puri was a Buddhist sanctuary, to the reputation of which Jagannath has succeeded. The present temple dates from the end of the twelfth century, and is a pyramidal building on a site about twenty feet above the surround- The great ing country. Vishnu worship was greatly temple. modified by Chaitanya, who taught that faith and love were more acceptable to the deity than penance and rites. The temple already had a large double enclosure with lofty walls; and Chaitanya taught that within it men of all castes were equal, and might eat together of the sacred food. Altogether the worship of Jagannath became that of a gentle, genial deity with human feelings and sympathies, and having no trace of those bloodthirsty qualities generally associated in this country with the "car of Juggernaut." No doubt the genial has become the jovial and the voluptuous with many of the worshippers, and the worship itself is accused of licentiousness, but as warmly defended from the charge by some who have had good opportunities of knowing.
The inner enclosure of the great temple, nearly four hundred by three hundred feet, includes a number of small temples and sacred places and trees as well as the large temple. The latter contains four principal halls, the Hall of Offerings, the Dancing Hall for amusements, the audience chamber, and the shrine proper, both the
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| SR No. | 007305 |
| Book Title | Great Indian Religion |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | G T Bettany |
| Publisher | Ward Lock Bowden and Co |
| Publication Year | 1892 |
| Total Pages | 312 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 42 MB |