________________
DECEMBER, 1875.]
WORDS AND PLACES IN AND ABOUT BOMBAY.
battle fought between Râma and a king of ancient Mahim. The victory is said to have been then commemorated by raising a temple on the spot to the goddess Kali, which was transferred from the island of Mahimapuri to that of Mam både vi, where it is to be seen in our days. The current tradition is that the temple was transferred about five hundred years ago by a Koli named Kâlbâ or Kâls â, and hence the name Kâlbâdevi; but no reliance can be placed on this story.
Any one passing along the Kâlbâdevi road may see the image of Kali just in front of the door of a small square room, with a circular dome, seated on a quadrilateral cornice bearing four images of Mahadeva, one at each angle, and surmounted by a flag. It is represented as a black female figure with red paint on the face, silvery white eyes, and a gaudy scarlet sádi round the waist, while the trunk is left nude. The Kolis never pass it without saluting it with both hands.
Kali is supposed to have been originally a goddess of the non-Aryan races, incorporated into the Hindu pantheon, along with other aboriginal deities, as a Brahmanical expedient to induce the natives of the country to join their creed, just as the first Jesuit missionaries, such as De' Nobili and others, in proselytizing the Brahmans, are said to have done in later times. Sir W. Jones considers Kâli as analogous to the Proserpine of the Greeks.
The present temple was built not very many years ago, after pulling down the old one, which stood about the same place, in order to widen the Kalbadevi road. It is also said that the modern building was erected at the expense of the Government. It is at present under the management of the Palsis, the aboriginal settlers in Bombay.
Besides the Hindu temple just mentioned, there are several others in Bombay, the greater number being dedicated to a saint of the aborigines, imported into the Brahmanical Flos Sanctorum-Maruti or Hanuman, the monkey-god, and the son of Maruta and Anjanî. The Hindus worship Mâruti because he is sup posed to possess the power to bestow sound health on his votaries and preserve them from epidemics. The Catholic martyrology has also a saint described as advocatus contra pestes ram Deo, who is invoked when any infectious disease prevails.
359
The peculiarity about the worship of Hanuman is that his altar is made solely for him, and that it allows no niche or corner for any other devata; while other devas do not disdain the company of even the lowest of their fraternity. The special day when M à ruti is worshipped is Saturday, when vermilion and oil are poured on him. In the Ramayana it is said that when Maruti was born he saw the rising sun, and thinking it to be a ripe fruit flew up to the sky and seized the sun's chariot, whereupon Indra, fearing that Mâruti would swallow the sun, smote him, and he came to the ground. As a reward for his bravery, and at the recommendation of his father V â yu or Maruta, who corresponds to the Eolus of the Romans, Brahma made him chirangjiva, or immortal. In the war of Râma with Ravana he is said to have assisted the former, at the head of a regiment of monkeys. It is likewise said that this simian general first met Râma on the Rishimu k ha mountain, near the lake Pampâ, in the south of the Dekhan, a place not identified.
Mâruti has a number of patronymics describing several of the episodes of his life,-as Hanuman, which is derived from hanu, 'the chin,' in reference to the fall he had from heaven, a result of the blow received from Indra's thunderbolt on his chin.
The principal temples of Siva in Bombay are one close to the old Sailors' Home, facing the Esplanade; one in Antoba's Street, near Lohârchal; one in the middle of the market near the Jumma Masjid ; a fourth named Panchamukhi, or the five-faced, at Bholeśvara; and several others, including those in Mazagon, Kulâbâ, &c. Bholeśvara, to the right of the temple of Mammådevi, and of the main road to the Fort, is so named from a pagoda there consecrated to Bholeśvara- the Lord of the simplo-hearted,'-from ar 'simple-hearted,' and
lord,'-an epithet of Éiva. It is also sometimes called Bholanatha. The temple is one of the largest in Bombay, with a well-built tank. The deity here is represented by a black smooth stone with a concave projection at the base, like the mouth of a spoon, which is called Pindika. The congregation of this temple is the largest in the town, comprising Brahmans of Gujarat and Mahârâshtra, Vâniâs, Prabhus, Sonårs, Marâțhâs, and others, who make valuable offerings to the linga of Śiva. The
