Storia do Mogor 281.24
Storia do Mogor (Irvine) 281.24
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281.24.1
On the thirtieth day after this interment there was another procession conducted with the same solemnity as the first. A hand-barrow (cherolle) or throne came first, decked with mirrors, et cetera. Placed above the portable throne was a cross, and inside it a large copper platter filled with rice flour. In the centre of the rice stood the half of a broken coco-nut, having its pulp still in it, but filled with cow's butter, in the midst of which stood a large burning wick. The Hindus call this the 'Fire of Heaven,' and therefore pay it great veneration, placing men round and in front of it, who fan it. The Jesuit fathers and the cross followed the moving throne. The drums and trumpets went before it, while the fireworks and the cattle (bestes) made a fine show. The procession with the cross and the fathers stopped some time in front of the Hindu pagoda, a sort of polite attention that these idolaters never fail to show themselves at these places where they worship their false divinities. This observance their reverences were anxious not to omit.
281.24.2
They carried out the same etiquette at the house of the defunct, and then finally went to the place of burial. I am unable to express how much these ceremonies scandalized the French of the fortress ; more especially the form of the cherolle or portable throne offended them very much, as also a sort of chapel in shape like a pagoda, which had been erected at the grave. In addition, there was an altar inside this chapel on its northern side, but made quite differently from our altars, and quite low, without crucifix or candlesticks, merely with a statue of the Virgin. Around the grave there were four candlesticks, and in the middle a huge ball of rice-flour moistened with cow's butter. At the four corners were four other rice-balls of the same size, each having a lighted wick in its centre. From time to time these were fed with butter. There were also, all round, upon small stands, some one hundred and thirty-two other smaller balls with their wicks, and these, too, were from time to time sprinkled with butter. Lastly, when they had entered the tomb, the son of the deceased, and still a child, with the aid of some of those present took the platter of which I have spoken, and carried it on his head to the centre of the tomb, and there the Libera was sung, holy water was distributed, and the rice-balls were divided among those present.
281.24.3
From the whole of what is given above, one may decide what sort of Christianity it is that their reverences are founding in India. I will add the description of a Hindu procession, so that by comparing it with what the Jesuits allow to, or rather enforce on, their Christians, a saner judgment on the whole case may be arrived at. On January 11 of this year 1702, there fell the Feast of Pongol, or, in other words, Festival of the Cow, called by the Malabars perempomquen (par-pongalam)—that is, 'she who gives everything.' In other parts of India it is celebrated about the summer, and at Pondicherry about the winter solstice. It is the festival, taken generally, of all cows. The hour of noon is chosen as the most auspicious for beginning the ceremonies. Those among the Hindus who own many of these cattle are special observers of the feast ; those who possess only few unite and collect the cows of several households. When the hour has come the cows are decorated, their horns are painted red, vermilion is applied to their heads just as is done to men. They are then sacrificed to, as if they were idols. The gifts consist of figs, coco-nuts, jágri (coarse sugar), ginger, and rice cooked in milk. Round their necks are thrown necklaces of flowers ; they are bathed with saffron water, and a certain herb called argounpoulou (arghyam-polon). Lastly, they are incensed with the smoke of black raisins, an incense which [75] these misguided people employ in regard to their idols.
281.24.4
When this ceremonial is over, all the things included in the offerings are hung round the cows' necks, and thus decked out, they are paraded through the town in procession to the sound of drums and trumpets. The owners allow the devout to take each a little of the offerings and eat it ; this is considered correct ; or you may even keep some as a relic during the coming year, until another festival supervenes. Whatever of these offerings is left they convey by groups and throw into the ponds. After this is done the superstitious throw over each other the would-be sanctified and holy water. They consider it to have been sanctified by those plants, et cetera, which had touched the cow. Particular care is taken that these plants shall not touch the ground, for fear of their being thereby contaminated. Finally, as the last stage, several women follow the procession and carefully gather up the cow-dung to be made into the ashes of which I have spoken ; it is from this cow-dung that it must be made. Thus finishes the ceremony. The truth is that the Malabar Christians do not follow out all these details. Only, on the previous day, they deliver their cows to an ordinary cowherd, making him some small payment, in return for which he charges himself with the performance of the rites in the mode he thinks best. Others content themselves with reddening the cows' horns and heads and wetting them with saffron water. Then they are loosed, and take part in the procession.
281.24.5
It is in honour of the solemn functions of this great festival that the Brahmans may be seen erecting an altar. Upon it they exhibit several idols ; beneath it they place grain, vegetables, different sorts of merchandise, and some jewels. Before it they pass the whole night in prayer and chanting ; then they inspect the things previously placed below the altar, and should any be missing or spoiled, it is an indication that in that year such article will be scarce and dear. It is also upon this day that they prognosticate whether there will be a murrain among cattle or a pestilence among men. On all these points Christians as well as Hindus visit and consult them in the morning.
281.24.6
Finally, at the approach of evening, a solemn procession is formed, in which is prominent the idol Parmansouery (Parameswari) with two of her children, Armogon (Arumukham) and Comra (Kumara), at her side. These two are also among their false gods. She is seated on a sort of hand-barrow or stretcher of enormous size. Isparou (Iswara) followed seated in a chair placed on a kind of throne. You could also see the idol Benaerem (Vinayakam) sitting on a big rat the size of a sucking-pig ; and Bayraou (Bhairava), so feared by the Hindus that they pay him greater honour than to the others. They came forth carried on platforms unescorted, while he was largely accompanied. When he was first placed on his wooden horse, all the idolaters then present [76] advanced one after another and prostrated themselves with their faces on the ground and kissed his feet. But what was most remarkable in the last procession at Pondicherry was the travelling throne of their great idol. For that in which the Jesuit fathers paraded the statue of the Virgin Mary is exactly the same. This fact caused much scandal to many pious souls; more so from knowing that the Jesuits took the design and the dimensions from that used for the idol. The procession was closed by several matchlockmen and some umbrella-holders. These latter protected all these divinities, particularly those whose names are given above.
281.24.7
My beloved reader! How alike are the ceremonies observed in this procession and those observed at the festival of the Blessed Virgin! This is so much the case that Hindus and Malabar Christians attend, without distinction and without scruple, both the one and the other, particularly as they [the Hindus] look on the Blessed Virgin as their Bangavaty (BhagavatI) and the Infant Jesus as their false god, Ram. These are the ceremonies that I have witnessed in the space of fifty years passed by me in this great empire. In it I have seen all these customs, which are not only evil, but hateful and abominable. For all those [sect] marks are meant only to distinguish one set of men from another, things that they connect with diabolical and sacrilegious invocations. Yet these are also employed by all the Christians of this region (? Pondicherry), who mark themselves with the said ashes and are under the guidance of the Jesuit fathers. As for the other Christians, those who live in the countries in submission to the King of Portugal, they have been absolutely forbidden by the Holy Inquisition to affix such marks. Nor have the Capuchin fathers, who for twenty-four years directed the congregation of Malabar Christians at Pondicherry, ever allowed the use of these abominable ashes or any equivalent marks; with which deprivation these Christians were quite content, because they saw themselves made equal to, and put on the same footing as, the ancient Christians.
281.24.8
But for the last three years, since the Jesuit fathers wrested from the Capuchins, by force and contrary to all right, the control of the said Malabar Christians, they have been obliged to make use of the said signs and marks. By this an opening has been given to the Brahmans and Hindus of Pondicherry and other places to say that their accursed religion is superior to ours. The earliest missionaries forbade Hindu ashes, processions, and other ceremonials, but at present the Jesuit fathers approve them all, and the Hindus say they hope that in the end the same will be the case with all their abominations. All this they say simply because these fathers imitate and conform to their (Hindu) ceremonies.