Mirzapūr is a military cantonment, famous for its beautiful ghāts, and
noted for its carpet manufactory and cotton mart. Some remarkably
picturesque Hindū temples are on the _ghāts_, with fine trees in the
back ground. The cliff is abrupt, and the river is always crowded with
vessels full of merchandise: steamers having plenty of cargo to land are
generally detained here four or five hours. Mirzapūr is from Calcutta,
_via_ Bhagirathī, 748 miles, and by dāk route, 455.
The scene before you is very singular; it represents the finale of the
_Kalī-pūjā_ festival: the goddess is seen on a platform in the boat in
the foreground, covered by an awning, and adorned with flags: on the
steps of the _ghāt_, a similar image is being put into a boat, and from
every part of the city the worshippers are bringing forth the idols. One
of the boats is towed by a _dinghī_, in which they are firing a _feu de
joie_ from a matchlock.
In the house of the Bengalī _babū_ you beheld a _nāch_, and the worship
of the goddess Dūrga, a yellow woman, with ten arms. You have now before
you another form of the same Hindū deity, under the name of Kalī, the
black, the terrific. When this goddess is worshipped in the month of
May, it is called the _Phuluharī_ festival, on account of the quantity
of fruits and flowers offered to the idol at this particular season:
animals are sacrificed in her honour, and jack fruit and mangoes are
presented to her in that particular month.
The day after the worship, the people carry the goddess in state to the
river, and place the image on a platform, between two boats; the
worshippers, attended by the discordant music of tom-toms (native drums)
and horns, row the image out into the stream, and sink her in the deep
waters: the women weep and utter lamentations on parting with the idol.
This goddess is represented as a black woman, with four arms: in one
hand she carries a scimitar, one is bestowing a blessing, another
forbids fear, and the fourth holds the head of the giant whom she slew.
She wears a necklace of skulls, her tongue hangs out of her mouth, her
jet-black hair falls to her heels. Having drunk the blood of the giants
she slew, her eyebrows are bloody, and the blood is falling in a stream
down her breast: her eyes are red, like those of a drunkard: she stands
trampling on her husband Siva. Kālī had a contest with the giant Ravŭna,
which lasted ten years: having conquered him, she became mad with joy,
and her dancing shook the earth to its centre. To restore the peace of
the world, Siva, her husband, threw himself amongst the dead bodies at
her feet. She continued her dancing, and trampled upon him. When she
discovered her husband, she stood still, horror-struck and ashamed, and
threw out her tongue to an uncommon length; by this means Siva stopped
her frantic dancing, and saved the universe. “The Philistine cursed
David by his gods.” A Hindū sometimes in a fit of anger, says to his
enemy, “The goddess Kalī shall devour thee; may Dūrga destroy thee!”