Great Indian Religion

Author(s): G T Bettany
Publisher: Ward Lock Bowden and Co

Page 92

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MODERN HINDUISM.
of Kali. The account of the image of Kali given later in describing one of the Bengal festivals will explain some of her qualities. Formerly human beings, Kali. as well as considerable animal sacrifices, were offered to Kali, a human sacrifice being said to please Kali for a thousand years. Cutting their flesh and burning portions of their bodies were among the actions by which worshippers sought to please the goddess. The great number of Hindus who bear the name of Kali or Durga or Tara indicates her popularity down to the present day.
Ganesa.
Ganesa, the elder son of Siva and Parvati, the god of prudence and policy, having an elephant's head, indicating his sagacious nature, is the god of Bengal shopkeepers; he has a trunk, one tusk, and four hands. Kartikeya is the younger son of Siva and Parvati, and is called the god of war; in southern India his name is Subramanya. Lastly, we must notice Ganga, the Ganges, whose birth and doings Ganga. are the subject of elaborate legends, and whose waters are believed to have power to cleanse from all sins, past, present, and future. A specially sacred spot is that where the Ganges meets the ocean, at Sagar Island, to which vast numbers of people flock each January, to bathe with joy in the flood, and to worship the long line of deities whose images are set up by priests who take toll of the pilgrims.
But when we have exhausted the list of great gods, we have only touched as it were the more prominent of Hindu deities, which are popularly said to number three hundred and thirty millions. In fact, throughout India the old local deities and demons, so much noticed in Local deities China, hold extensive sway. Every village has and demons. its own special guardian mother, who has a husband associated with her as protector. But the mother is most worshipped, and is believed to be most accessible to prayer and offerings, and very liable to punish, and to inflict diseases if neglected. Many have a specialty, such as the prevention of a particular disease, or the giving of children. Many are deifications of notable