ith
songs; having a nose, it can smell the sweet perfumes which are offered;
having a mouth, it can be delighted with the rich food which is prepared
for it.

After the image is consecrated, the worship begins. The devotee comes
near the image, and falls down before it. He then twists himself into a
great variety of shapes. Sometimes he sits on the floor, sometimes he
stands, sometimes he looks in one direction, sometimes in another. Then
he sprinkles the idol with holy water, rinses its mouth, washes its
feet, wipes it with a dry cloth, throws flowers over it, puts jewels on
it, offers perfumes to it, and finishes by performing shaashtaangkum.

The worship of the idol is succeeded by a season of carousing, joy, and
festivity. On this occasion, large offerings are made to the idols. A
rich native has been known to offer eighty thousand pounds of
sweetmeats, eighty thousand pounds of sugar, a thousand suits of cloth
garments, a thousand suits of silk, a thousand offerings of rice,
plantains, and other fruits.

Bloody sacrifices are offered up on such occasions. The king of Nudiya,
some time ago, offered a large number of sheep, goats, and buffaloes on
the first day of the feast, and vowed to double the offering every day;
so that the whole number sacrificed amounted to more than sixty-five
thousand. You may remember that king Solomon offered up on one occasion
twenty-two thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep. If
all the animals slain throughout Hindostan, at the festival of the
goddess Durga, were collected together, they would amount to a much
larger number than Solomon offered.

After the worship and offerings have been continued for three days, the
festival closes. As the morning of the first day was devoted to the
consecration of the images, the morning of the fourth is spent in
unconsecrating them. This work is done by the Brahmins. They profess, by
various ceremonies, to send back the goddess to her heaven, concluding
with a farewell address, in which they tell her that they expect her to
accept of all their services, and return and pay them a visit again in
the coming year. Then all unite in bidding her a sorrowful adieu, and
many seem affected even to the shedding of tears.

Soon afterwards the images are carried forth into the streets, placed on
stages or platforms, and raised on men's shoulders. As the procession
moves onward through the streets, accompanied with music and songs, amid
clo