The scene now represents the interior of the building during the
celebration of the festival of the _Dūrga-pūjā_, or _Dasera_, held in
honour of the goddess Dūrga, and the performance of a _nāch_ by the
dancing-girls of Hindostān. During the _Dūrga-pūjā_ holidays, which last
eight or ten days, the Hindūs lay aside all kind of business, save what
necessity renders indispensable to pursue, and shops and offices are
shut up while that great religious ceremonial is in course of being
observed.
The house, as is generally the case, is a four-sided building, having an
area in the middle, on one side of which the image of the goddess is
raised on a throne, and some Brahmans are in attendance. The area is
open to the sky, and a temporary ceiling is formed by fastening ropes
across from wall to wall, over which a cotton carpet of native
manufacture, called _shatranjī_, is spread, thus forming a roof; the
floor is also covered with a gay cloth of the same manufacture, and a
Persian carpet.
The goddess Dūrga, in whose honour this festival is held, derives her
name from the giant Dūrgŭ, whom she is represented in the act of slaying
with a trident as he issues from the neck of a buffalo, whose head she
has cut off. The image is that of a yellow woman with ten arms, which
are stretched out and filled with instruments of war. This goddess has a
thousand names, and has assumed innumerable forms.
The bright half of the month _Aswina_, the first of the Hindū lunar
year, is peculiarly devoted to Dūrga. The first nine nights are allotted
to her decoration; on the sixth she is awakened; on the seventh she is
invited to a bower formed of the leaves of nine plants, of which the
_bilwa_ is the chief. The seventh, eighth, and ninth are the great days;
on the last, the victims which are immolated to her honour must be
killed with one blow only from a sharp sword or axe. The next day the
goddess is reverently dismissed, and her image is cast into the river,
which finishes the festival of the _Dasera_.
The black figure at the side of the goddess is that of Krishnŭ, one of
the most popular gods of the Hindū Pantheon; he is greatly worshipped in
Bengal, as well as in all parts of Hindostān, a great proportion of the
Hindū population being devoted to him, and he is especially beloved by
the women. A black marble figure of this popular deity stands in the
Pilgrim’s Museum, as well as a small brazen one of Dūrga; the latter is
very ancient. Immense sums are expended by wealthy Bengalīs during the
_Dūrga-pūjā_.
The _Bābū_ is conversing with his European guests, and offering flowers
to one of the ladies, who, seated on a sofa, is talking to those around
her, and witnessing the _nāch_. The dancing-girls wear a very full
petticoat of fine-coloured muslin, trimmed with deep borders of gold and
silver, full satin trowsers which all but cover their naked and jewelled
feet; and the _dopatta_, a large veil worn over the head, is highly
embroidered. Various ornaments of native jewellery adorn their persons;
their anklets are formed of numerous small brass bells that sound in
time with their steps in the measured dance, and rings adorn their toes.
In the thumb ring, which is about two inches in diameter, a bit of
looking-glass is inserted, in which the nāch-girl often looks to see if
her tresses are in order, and to adjust her flowing drapery. They dance,
or rather move in a circle, attitudinizing and making the small brass
bells fastened to their ankles sound in unison with their movements.
Several men, the musicians of the party, attend each set of nāch-girls;
they play on divers curiously-shaped native instruments.
In the hands of one of the native servants, standing near the steps, is
a silver tray containing a _gulab-dānī_ (a gold or silver vessel used in
sprinkling rose-water on departing guests), and the smaller vessel at
its side, of elegant form, contains the _’atr_ of roses, which is placed
on their hands at the same time.
Before the temples of Dūrga thousands of animals are annually
slaughtered and offered to her image. In the portico is represented the
sacrifice of a goat; the officiating Brahman, after bathing it, either
in the river or in the house, puts his left hand on its forehead, marks
its horns and forehead with red-lead, and repeats an invocation, in
which he offers it up to the goddess thus: “O goddess, I sacrifice this
goat to thee, that I may live in thy heaven to the end of ten years.” He
then reads an incantation in its ear, and puts flowers and sprinkles
water on its head. The instrument with which the animal is to be killed
is next consecrated; the goat’s head is then put into an upright post,
excavated at the top so as to admit the neck between its forks, the body
remaining on one side the post and the head on the other; after which
the executioner cuts off the head with one blow. After all the animals
have been thus killed, and some of the flesh and the heads carried
before the image, the officiating Brahman repeats certain prayers over
these offerings and presents them to the goddess.
The square pillars of the building are of pure Hindostānī architecture,
very singular, and elaborately carved.