Handbook of History of Religions

SR No.: 007634
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Edward Washburn
Publisher: Sanmati Tirth Prakashan Pune
Total Pages: 678
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 2 MB

Page 468

comes—'It has boiled.' Then both shout at the top of their voices—'Oh Pongol, Pongol, oh S[=u]rya, oh Indra, Pongol, Pongol." Gorer, loc. cit.]
[Footnote 45: The Crocodile, makara, like the parrot, is sacred to K[=a]madeva, Love. But as Ganges also is holy it is difficult to say for which divinity the offering was intended. Some, indeed, interpret makara as dolphin.)
[Footnote 46: A feast now neglected, though kept up by strict Brahmans, occurs on or about the 20th January. The orthodox adherents of the Çivaite sects and Ç[ra]ktas also observe it. It is a Cr[=a]ddha, or funeral feast to the Manes. Also on the 26th and 30th January there are rites nearly obsolete, the first being signalized by offerings to Yama; the second, a Civaite feast (to his spouse, as 'giver of bridegrooms'). The list is more celebrated in the South than in the North. It is interesting chiefly as a parallel to St. Valentine's day, or, as Wilson says, the nearer feast of St. Agnes (21st January) on the eve of which divination is practiced to discover future husbands. It is this time also that the Greeks call 'marriage-month' (Gamelion); and the fourth day from the new moon (which gives the name to this Hindu festival, caturth[=i], "fourth day") is the day when Hesiod recommends the bringing home of the bride.]
[Footnote 47: In case any writing has to be done on this day it is done with chalk, not with the pens, "which have a complete holiday" (Wilson).]
[Footnote 48: The invocations show very well how the worship of Brahm[=a] has been driven out in honor of his more powerful rivals. For Sarasvat[=i] is invoked first as "Thou without whom Brahm[=a] never lives"; but again as "Thou of eight forms, Lakshm[=i), Medh[=a], Dhav[=a], Pusht[=i], G[=a]ur[=i), Tusht[=i), Prabh[=a], Dhriti, O Sarasvat[=i]." The great festivals, like the great temples, are not very stricly sectarian.