. Women adore the river Ganges, bathing in
it and offering it flowers. They also walk in procession round the banyan
or sacred tree. Then they worship the cow, pouring water on her feet and
putting oil on her forehead. Sometimes they take a vow to feed some
particular Brahman luxuriously during the whole month. They bathe their
idols with religious care every day and offer them food. This lasts during
April and then stops.

In May the women of India worship a goddess friendly to little babies,
named Shus-ty. They bring the infants to be blessed by some venerable
woman before the image of the goddess, whose messenger is a cat. Social
parties are also given on these occasions, although the lower castes are
kept distinct at four separate tables. The women also, not being allowed
to meet with the men at such times, have a separate entertainment by
themselves.

The month of June is devoted to the bath of Jugger-naut, who was one of the
incarnations of Vischnu. The name, Jugger-naut, means Lord of the
Universe. His worship is comparatively recent. His idols are extremely
ugly. But the most remarkable thing perhaps about this worship is that it
destroys, for the time, the distinction of castes. While within the walls
which surround the temple Hindoos of every caste eat together from the
same dish. But as soon as they leave the temple this equality disappears.
The ceremony of the bath originated in this legend. The idol Jugger-naut,
desiring to bathe in the Ganges, came in the form of a boy to the river,
and then gave one of his golden ornaments to a confectioner for something
to eat. Next day the ornament was missing, and the priests could find it
nowhere. But that night in a dream the god revealed to a priest that he
had given it to a certain confectioner to pay for his lunch; and it being
found so, a festival was established on the spot, at which the idol is
annually bathed.

The other festival of this month is the worship of the Ganges, the sacred
river of India. Here the people come to bathe and to offer sacrifices,
which consist of flowers, incense, and clothes. The most sacred spot is
where the river enters the sea. Before plunging into the water each one
confesses his sins to the goddess. On the surface of this river castes are
also abolished, the holiness of the river making the low-caste man also
holy.

In the month of July is celebrated the famous ceremony of the car of
Jugger-naut, instituted to commemorate the