Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies - DUBOIS, Abbé Hindu Manners, Customs and Ceremonies, Dubois | Seite 634

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[MPOSING ON BARREN
WOMEN
where, they say, the great Venkateswara, touched by their
devotion, will perhaps visit them in the spirit and accom-
plish that which until then has been denied to them through
human power. I must draw a curtain over the sequel of
The reader already guesses at
this deceitful suggestion.
The following morning these detestable hypocrites,
it.
pretending complete ignorance of what has passed, make
due inquiries into all the details and after having con-
gratulated the women upon the reception they met with
from the god, receive the gifts with which they have pro-
vided themselves and take leave of them, after flattering
them with the hope that they have not taken their journey
Fully convinced that the god has deigned to have
in vain.
intercourse with them, the poor creatures return home
enchanted, flattering themselves that they will soon procure
for their husbands the honour of paternity.
People who have not sufficiently reflected upon the
extremes to which the superstitious and fanatical credulity
of a people may be carried, have regarded as untrue the
stories which Father Gerbillon, Tavernier, and other
His excrements
travellers have told of the Dalai-Lama.
are carefully preserved, dried, and distributed as relics to
pious Tibetans, who, when they fall ill, make use of them
as an internal medicine, which is considered to be a sove-
The fact I am about to
reign remedy for all diseases.
relate, which, although even more revolting, is nevertheless
quite true, will render any similar stories credible enough.
It is not without shame that I enter upon an account of
the disgusting incidents which I am here to describe. I
would have passed them over in silence if the very nature
of this work had not imposed upon me the painful duty of
telling everything.
At Nanjangud, a village situated about ten leagues south
of Seringapatam, there is a temple famous throughout
Mysore. Among the numerous votaries who flock to it
are many women, who go to implore the help of the idol
Offerings and prayers are not the
in curing their sterility.
only ceremonies which have to be gone through. On leav-
ing the temple the woman, accompanied by her husband,
has to go to a place where all the pilgrims are accustomed
to resort to answer the calls of nature. There the husband
;