Storia do Mogor 281.24.3

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.