s as well as on the steps, floors, pillars, roof and
walls, inside and outside of the temple itself and in the neighboring
houses, in the trees, on the streets, in the gardens, in short, wherever
they can find a footing, there are thousands of gray, yellow, black,
white and brown monkeys, with all possible monkey physiognomies and
monkey natures, sitting, lying, jumping, hanging and climbing. They are
considered sacred and must not be killed, consequently they are
increasing so fast that if no interdicts are fulminated against them
they will soon become the ruling element in Benares. And so assiduously
is this temple visited by well-to-do and generous worshipers that both
the Brahmins and the monkeys live in affluence and luxury. Incredible as
it may seem, I have myself seen one crowd of people after another enter
this temple and prostrate themselves in worshiping the living monkeys as
well as the ape-faced stone image, and then return home rejoicing
because the Brahmins have assured them that their worship and offerings
have opened for them the gates of heaven.

[Illustration: MONKEY TEMPLE IN BENARES.]

In some temples domestic animals are sacrificed by the servants of the
priests, the blood and the meat being distributed among the priests, the
intestines and other offal among the poor. In others, butter, oils,
sweetmeats and rice are offered by first giving the idols a taste in the
same manner as our children feed their dolls, whereupon the rest is
consumed by the priests and the people. In several temples are Fakirs or
saints sitting in unnatural positions with lean limbs and vacant looks,
and these are also objects of the worship and offerings of the people.
In other temples are even lewd women, who, by their dancing and singing,
act as mediators between the people and their angry gods.

As far as these descriptions go, they may be applied to all temples and
ceremonies, and the chief and absolute universal feature is the question
of money and other offerings to the Brahmins. All the temples are
surrounded with beggars who are as importunate as the Brahmins
themselves, and the whole of it makes the European wish to get away from
the sacred places of the Orient as soon as possible.

Man Modir, is the name of a remarkable astronomical observatory which
towers above the temples on the Ganges, close to the place where the
dead bodies are cremated. It was built two hundred years ago by the
emperor, Jai Sing, and still