us Hindus are not content to tell the beads when praying; they must
hide their hands during this ceremony in a bag called gomukha, which
means the cow's mouth.

We left the women to their prayers and followed our host to the cow
house. The cow symbolizes the "fostering earth," or Nature, and is
worshipped accordingly. Sham Rao sat down by the cow and washed her
feet, first with her own milk, then with water. He gave her some sugar
and rice, covered her forehead with powdered sandal, and adorned her
horns and four legs with chains of flowers. He burned some incense under
her nostrils and brandished a burning lamp over her head. Then he walked
three times round her and sat down to rest. Some Hindus walk round the
cow one hundred and eight times, rosary in hand. But our Sham Rao had
a slight tendency to freethinking, as we knew, and besides, he was too
much of an admirer of Haeckel. Having rested himself, he filled a cup
with water, put in it the cow's tail for a moment, and then drank it!

After this he performed the rite of worshipping the sun and the sacred
plant tulsi. Unable to bring the god Surya from his heavenly altar and
wash him in the sacred font, Sham Rao contented himself by filling
his own mouth with water, standing on one leg, and spirting this water
towards the sun. Needless to say it never reached the orb of day, but,
very unexpectedly, sprinkled us instead.----

It is still a mystery to us why the plant tulsi, Royal Basilicum, is
worshipped. However, towards the end of September we yearly witnessed
the strange ceremony of the wedding of this plant with the god Vishnu,
notwithstanding that tulsi bears the title of Krishna's bride, probably
because of the latter being an incarnation of Vishnu. On these occasions
pots of this plant are painted and adorned with tinsel. A magical circle
is traced in the garden and the plant is put in the middle of it. A
Brahman brings an idol of Vishnu and begins the marriage ceremony,
standing before the plant. A married couple hold a shawl between the
plant and the god, as if screening them from each other, the Brahman
utters prayers, and young women, and especially unmarried girls, who are
the most ardent worshippers of tulsi, throw rice and saffron over the
idol and the plant. When the ceremony is concluded, the Brahman is
presented with the shawl, the idol is put in the shade of his wife,
the Hindus clap their hands, rend everyone's ears with the noise of
tom-toms, le