File:A tour around the world by General Grant. Being a narrative of the incidents and events of his journey (1879) (14585952109).jpg

Identifier: touraroundworldb01mcca (find matches)
Title: A tour around the world by General Grant. Being a narrative of the incidents and events of his journey
Year: 1879 (1870s)
Authors: McCabe, James Dabney, 1842-1883
Subjects: Grant, Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson), 1822-1885 Voyages around the world
Publisher: Philadelphia, Chicago (etc.) The National publishing co
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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pious Hindoo, andhis constant prayer is, Holy Kasi! Would that I could see theeternal city favored of the gods! Would that I might die on itssacred soil! Benares is the city of priests. Its population, notwithstand-ing Macaulays estimate, is less than two hundred thousand. Ofthis number from twenty to twenty-five thousand are Brahmins.They govern the city and hold its temples, wells, shrines andstreams. Pilgrims are always arriving and going, and as the dayof General Grants visit fell upon one of the holiest of Indianfestivals, we found it crowded with pilgrims. Sometimes as manyas two hundred thousand come in the course of a year. Theycome to die, to find absolution by bathing in the sacred waters ofthe Ganges. The name comes from a prince named Banar, whoonce ruled here. The Hindoo name, Kasi, means splendid.There is no record of the number of temples. Not long sinceone authority counted 1,454 Hindoo temples, and 272 Moham-medan mosques. In addition to the temples there are shrines,
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(57; 574 AROUND THE WORLD. cavities built in walls containing the image of some god, as sacredas temples. Pious rajahs are always adding to the temples andshrines. One of the rulers of Jeypore offered to present 100,000temples provided they should be commenced and finished in oneday. The plan hit upon, says the Rev. Mr. Sherring, who tellsthe story, was to cut out on blocks of stone a great many tinycarvings, each one representing a temple. The separate blocks,therefore, on the work being completed, exhibited from top to bot-tom and on all sides a mass of minute temples. It is believed thatthere are a half million of idols in the city. The effect of theBritish rule has been to increase the idols and temples, for thelaw of the British gives protection to all religions, and underthis the Hindoo has been able to rebuild the monuments whichthe Mohammedan invaders pulled down. Aurungzebe, whoflourished at the close of the seventeenth century, and to whomBenares owes a prominent and picture

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