The Ceremonies. — The following is taken from Ward's Hindus : " Crowds of people assemble from the different towns and villages- near the river, es- pecially at the most sacred places of the river, bring- ing their offerings of fruit, rice, flowers, cloth, sweet- meats, etc., and hang garlands of flowers across the river, even where it is very wide. After the people have bathed, the officiating Brahman ascends the banks of the river with them ; and, after repeating re- ligious texts, places before him a jar of water, and, sitting with his face to the north or east, performs what is called Ghata-sV hapana. After this, the Brahman performs other ceremonies ; then the worship of the five gods, of the nine planets, of the regions of the ten quarters, etc. To this succeeds meditation. The priest next presents the offerings, which may bo
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sixtj'-four, or eighteen, or sixteen, or ten, or five, or merely flowers aiul water, according to the person's ability. To these offerings the worshipper must add sesamum, clarified butter, and barley tluur. The olli- ciatin" Brahman next performs the worship of Nara- yana, Maheshwara, Bramha, SOorya Bliageeral'ha, and Himalaya ; then the worship of the inhabitants of the waters, as the fish, the tortoises, the frogs, the water-snakes, the leeches, the smiils, the makaras, the shell-fish, the porpoises, etc. The offerings, after hav- inf been presented to tlie inhabitants of the waters, are tlirown into the Ganges. Ten lamps of clarified butter are then lighted up, and all the other offerings presented. After this the names of certain gods are repeated, with forms of praise ; the fee is presented to the priest, the Brahmans are entertained, and the of- feriugs sent to the houses of Brahmans. At the close of these ceremonies the people pei-form obeisance to Ganga, and then depart. Great multitudes assemble on the banks of the river on these occasions, and ex- pect much, both in this life and hereafter, from this act of worship. If a person place on his head ten fruits of an}' kind, and thus immerse himself in the Ganges on this da)', the sins of ten births will be re- moved. In this month also images of Ganga are set up in domestic temples and worshipped, and the next da}' thrown into the river. In some places cla}' im- ages of this goddess are preserved in clay temples, and worshipped daily. Persons escaping dangers on wa- ter present offerings to Ganga, as well as to Varoona, the Indian Neptune, as mariners, having escaped the dangers of the sea, used to offer a sacrifice to Venus. On the thirteenth of the decrease of the moon in Choi- tra, the peojjle descend into tlic water, and, with their iiands joined, immerse themselves, after which the of- ficiating Brahman reads a portion of the Shastra, de- scribing the benefits arising from this act of bathing. The people repeat after the priest certain significant words, as the day of the month, the name of Vislinu, etc., and then immerse themselves again. Gifts of ric?, fruits, and money are offered to the poor, the Brahmans, and the priests. On this occasion groups of t3n or twelve persons stand in the water in one spot, for whom one Brahman reads the formulas. These groups are to be seen extending themselves very far along tlie river. At the moment of the conjunction of the moon (on the thirteenth of its decrease) with the star ShataViiiisha, this festival is called the Great Va- roonee. The merit arising from, bathing at this lucky moment is supposed to be very great. The people fast till the bathing is over. When there is a con- junctiou as above, and the day falls on Saturday, the festival is called the Great Great Varuni."
The exposure nf sick and djiiij on the banks of the Ganges is of uncertain date. The following sum- mary is from the Calcutta Review, No. xx, vol. x, 1848 : "The Kunna Purnna saj's, 'Those that conscious- Ill die on the banks of the Ganges shall be absorbed into the essence of Brahma ; and those who die uncon- sciously shall surely go to the heaven of Brahma.' The Agni Parana says, 'those who die when half their liody is immersed in Ganga water, shall be happj- thousands of ages, and resemble Brahma.' In the Skanili Purdna, Shiva says, ' To him who dies in Gan- ga I give ni}' footstool to sit upon.' There are a great many traditionary stories concerning Ganga believed by the majority of Hindus. The following is a speci- men : ' On the banks of the Bhagirathi there grew a stately banian-tree, in whose ample folds a paddy-bird had made her nest. On a certain day the tree was torn up l)y the roots by the violence of the storm. The bird was destroyed, and its bones buried in the deep channel of the Ganga. The paddy-bird, in the next transmigration, was taken up into heaven simpl}' because her bones had accidentally been deposited in the river. After this she became one of Indra's queens in his heaven.' In consequence of this sort of III.— A A A
teaching the Hindus almost universall}' throw into the river the bones of tliose who had died at some distance from its shores. Even the bodies of those that die on the banks of tlie Ganges, and suffer cremation there, are not wholly burnt. Some part of the body, gener- ally the part surrounding the navel, is thrown into the river. Those who are too poor to burn their dead throw them bodilj' into the river. The exposure of the sick and dying is as follows. Wiien the patient seems to be beyond recovery, the relatives make prep- arations to 'give him to Ganga.' This is a stronger duty than seeking his recover}'. ' Life and death are in the hands of God, but the carrying of the sick to the river lies in our own hands, therefore we must do our duty.' A couch is procured, called the khal, for the dead, a number of torches if it be night, and notice is given throughout the neighborhood .... On the way the attendants repeat loudly the names of the gods and goddesses. At the yhat they lay him close to the water, and cause him to sa}' that he has come to see the Mother Ganges. He is laid in a miserable hut, amid dirt and nuisance, and multitudes of dying sick, whose shrieks and groans fill the air. A few minutes before his death he is again brought down on the brink of the river, half immersed in water, to give up the ghost. 'The habit of choking the dying pa- tients Avith water and mud is unquestionably a legiti- mate portion of the rite, but is not uniformly put in practice.' . . . If any one survives the exposure, and return from the bank of the river, he ought to be re- garded as rejected by the goddess, and be treated thenceforward as an outcast — ' an alien to his mother's children.' The British government, which has po nearly extirpated satii, and is doing its utmost to abol- ish infanticide, whether in the Ganges or elsewhere, is giving its attention to tlie suljject of these ghat mur- ders."— Ward's Manners and Customs of the Hindus; Vishnu Purana (Wilson's transl.); Calcutta Review, vol. X ; Sloore's Hindu Pantheon. (J. T. G.)