Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c27.s3.70

v2.c27.s3.70

Considerable resemblance is to be discerned between this festival of Gauri and that in honour of the Egyptian Diana ¹ at Bubastis, and Isis at Busiris, within the [573] Delta of the Nile, of which Herodotus says: “They who celebrate those of Diana embark in vessels; the women strike their tabors, the men their flutes; the rest of both sexes clap their hands, and join in chorus. Whatever city they approach, the vessels are brought on shore; the women use ungracious language, dance, and indelicately throw about their garments.” ² Wherever the rites of Isis prevailed, we find the boat introduced as an essential emblem in her worship, whether in the heart of Rajasthan, on the banks of the Nile, or in the woods of Germany. Bryant ³