Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Page 374

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SMEARING WITH ASHES
Vishnavite Brahmins, as well as those of other castes
are particularly devoted to the worship of Vishnu,
paint their foreheads with the emblem namam l which
gives their faces a most extraordinary, and sometimes
even ferocious appearance. The most enthusiastic devo-
tees of this sect paint the same design on their shoulders,
and the Bairagis, a sect who go
arms, breast, and belly
about stark naked, often draw it on their hinder parts.
The worshippers of Siva cover their foreheads and various
parts of their bodies with the ashes of cow-dung, or with
ashes taken from the places where the dead are