the house for the purpose twice a day, and who, as the name
implies, is the first in all ceremonies, second to none but the
_Guru_, or spiritual guide. The offerings of rice, fruits, sweetmeats,
and milk, made to the god, he carries home after the close of the
service. A conch is blown, a bell is rung, and a gong beaten at the
time of worship, when the religiously disposed portion of the inmates,
male and female, in a quasi-penitent attitude, make their obeisance to
the god and receive in return the hollow benediction of the
priest."[5]

[Footnote 5: From "Hindus as They Are."]

Even the building of the house is a matter which must be done
according to the rules of faith. The selection of a site, the correct
orientation of the building, the number and location of the rooms, the
proper material for the structure,--all of these must be determined by
the _Vastu Sastri_, or the architects, who do their business not so
much on scientific lines as upon religious. They have their
_Shastras_, or books of instruction, in architecture, whose basis is
largely a consideration of the supposed sentiments of the gods and a
proper harmonizing in the building of various religious conceits,
crude superstitions, and immemorial customs.

Even the day and hour of entering and dedicating the house must be
fixed by rules of faith, which are as exacting as they are
multitudinous. To enter and consecrate a house at the wrong
astrological moment would bring in its train a number of domestic
disasters. The house may be anything, from a most primitive hut to a
many-aisled palace; but in every case the astrologer must be consulted
as to the time; the spiritual architect must give his rules as to the
structure; and the family priest must make the house habitable by an
elaborate ceremonial and offerings to the god or gods of the family.

It is only after all these have been accomplished that a householder
may, with a clean conscience, enter his new home and expect a blessing
upon his family therein.

To a stranger who passes through the streets of a town or village it
may seem strange that no two adjoining houses have exactly the same
orientation. He may think it an evidence of carelessness, or a want
of taste. But to the Hindu it is the result of pious conformity to the
rules of his faith. To a non-Hindu it may seem peculiar that Hindus
generally enter their new homes in the first half of the year. But to
the Hindu it is the only half when the