Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c27.s3.t1: Affinities of Hindu to other Mythologies
Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, or the Central and Western Rajput States of India v2.c27.s3.t1
- Language
- English
Affinities of Hindu to other Mythologies
v2.c27.s3.t1.1
But we must close this digression; for such is the affinity between the mythology of India, Greece, and Egypt, that a bare recapitulation of the numerous surnames of the Hindu goddess of abundance would lead us beyond reasonable limits; all are forms of Parvati or Durga Mata, the Mater Montana of Greece and Rome, an epithet of Cybele or Vesta (according to Diodorus), as the guardian goddess of children, one of the characters of the Rajput ‘Mother of the Mount,’ whose shrine crowns many a pinnacle in Mewar; and who, with the prolific Gauri, is amongst the amiable forms of the universal mother, whose functions are more varied and extensive than her sisters of Egypt and of Greece. Like the Ephesian Diana, Durga wears the crescent on her head. She is also ‘the turreted Cybele,’ the guardian goddess of all places of strength (durga),³ and like her she is drawn or carried by the lion. As Mata Janavi, ‘the Mother of Births,’ she is Juno Lucina : as Padma, ‘ whose throne is the lotos,’ she is the fair Isis of the Nile : as Tripura,¹ ‘ governing the three worlds,’ and Atmadevi, ‘ the Goddess of Souls,’ she is the Hecate Triformis of the Greeks. In short, her power is manifested under every form from the birth, and all the [577] intermediate stages until death ; whether Janavi, Gauri, or the terrific Kali, the Proserpine or Kalligeneia of the West.
v2.c27.s3.t1.2
³ Durga, ‘a fort’; as Suvarnadurg, ‘the golden castle,’ etc., etc.
v2.c27.s3.t1.3
¹ Literally Tripoli, ‘ the three cities,’ pura, polis.
v2.c27.s3.t1.4
Whoever desires to witness one of the most imposing and pleasing of Hindu festivals, let him repair to Udaipur, and behold the rites of the lotus-queen Padma, the Gauri of Rajasthan.
v2.c27.s3.t1.5
Chait (Sudi) 8th, which, being after the Ides, is the 23rd of the month, is sacred to Devi, the goddess of every tribe ; she is called Asokashtami, and being the ninth night (nauratri) from the opening of their Floralia, they perform the homa, or sacrifice of fire. On this day a grand procession takes place to the Chaugan, and every Rajput worships his tutelary divinity.
v2.c27.s3.t1.6
The Birth of Rāma.—Chait (Sudi) 9th is the anniversary of Rama, the grand beacon of the solar race, kept with great rejoicings at Udaipur. Horses and elephants are worshipped, and all the implements of war. A procession takes place to the Chaugan, and the succeeding day, called the Dasahra or tenth, is celebrated in Asoj.
v2.c27.s3.t1.7
The Festival of Kamadeva.—The last days of spring are dedicated to Kamadeva, the god of love. The scorching winds of the hot season are already beginning to blow, when Flora droops her head, and “ the god of love turns anchorite ” ; yet the rose continues to blossom, and affords the most fragrant chaplets for the Rajputnis, amidst all the heats of summer. Of this the queen of flowers, the jessamine (chameli), white and yellow, the mogra,² the champaka, that flourish in extreme heat, the ladies form garlands, which they twine in their dark hair, weave into bracelets, or wear as pendent collars. There is no city in the East where the adorations of the sex to Kamadeva are more fervent than in ‘ the city of the rising sun ’ (Udayapura). On the 13th and 14th of Chait they sing hymns handed down by the sacred bards :
v2.c27.s3.t1.8
² [The double jasmin (Michelia champaka).]
v2.c27.s3.t1.9
“ Hail, god of the flowery bow :³ hail, warrior with a fish on
v2.c27.s3.t1.10
³ Cupid’s bow is formed of a garland of flowers.
v2.c27.s3.t1.11
thy banner! hail, powerful divinity, who causeth the firmness of the sage to forsake him!"
v2.c27.s3.t1.12
"Glory to Madana, to Kama,¹ the god of gods; to Him by whom Brahma [578], Vishnu, Siva, and Indra are filled with emotions of rapture!"—*Bhavishya Purana*.²
v2.c27.s3.t1.13
¹ Madana, he who intoxicates with desire (kama), both epithets of the god of love. The festivals on the 13th and 14th are called Madana trayodasi (the tenth) and Chaturdasi (fourteenth).
v2.c27.s3.t1.14
² *Asiatic Researches*, vol. iii. p. 278.
v2.c27.s3.t1.15
Festivals in the month Baisākh: April-May.—There is but one festival in this month of any note, when the grand procession denominated the 'Nakkara ki aswari' (from the equestrians being summoned, as already described, by the grand kettledrums from the Tripolia), takes place; and this is against the canons of the Hindu church, being instituted by the present Rana in S. 1847, a memorable year in the calendar. It was in this year, on the 2nd of Baisakh, that he commanded a repetition of the rites of Gauri, by the name of the Little Ganggor; but this act of impiety was marked by a sudden rise of the waters of the Pichola, the bursting of the huge embankment, and the inundation of the lake's banks, to the destruction of one-third of the capital: life, property, mansions, trees, all were swept away in the tremendous rush of water, whose ravages are still marked by the site of streets and bazaars now converted into gardens or places of recreation, containing thousands of acres within the walls, subdivided by hedges of the cactus, the natural fence of Mewar, which alike thrives in the valley or covers the most barren spots of her highest hills. But although the superstitious look grave, and add that a son was also taken from him on this very day, yet the Rana persists in maintaining the fête he established; the barge is manned, he and his chiefs circumnavigate the Pichola, regale on ma'ajun, and terrify Varuna (the water-god) with the pyrotechnic exhibitions.
v2.c27.s3.t1.16
Although the court calendar of Udaipur notices only those festivals on which State processions occur, yet there are many minor fêtes, which are neither unimportant nor uninteresting. We shall enumerate a few, alike in Baisakh, Jeth, and Asarh, which are blank as to the Nakkara Aswari.
v2.c27.s3.t1.17
Savitrivrata Festival.—On the 29th Baisakh there is a fast common to India peculiar to the women, who perform certain rites under the sacred fig-tree (the vata or pipal), to preserve them from widowhood; and hence the name of the fast Savitri-vrata.¹
v2.c27.s3.t1.18
¹ [Savitri-vrata means ‘the vow to Savitri,’ and has no connexion with the vata or banyan-tree. But the tree is worshipped in connexion with it on 15th light or dark fortnight of the month Jeth (Census Report, Baroda, 1901, i. 127).]
v2.c27.s3.t1.19
Festivals in the month Jeth : May-June.—On the 2nd of Jeth, when the sun is in the zenith, the Rajput ladies commemorate the birth of the sea-born goddess Rambha, the queen of the naiads or Apsaras,² whose birth, like that of Venus, was from the froth of the waters; and [579] hence the Rajput bards designate all the fair messengers of heaven by the name of Apsaras, who summon the ‘chosen’ from the field of battle, and convey him to the ‘mansion of the sun.’³
v2.c27.s3.t1.20
² Ap, ‘water,’ and sara, ‘froth or essence.’ [The word means ‘going in the waters, or between the waters of the clouds.’]
v2.c27.s3.t1.21
³ The Romans held the calends of June (generally Jeth) sacred to the goddess Carna, significant of the sun. Carneus was the sun-god of the Celts, and a name of Apollo at Sparta, and other Grecian cities. The Karneia was a festival in honour of Apollo.
v2.c27.s3.t1.22
The Aranya-Shashthi Festival.—On the 6th of Jeth the ladies have another festival called the Aranya Shashthi, because on this day those desirous of offspring walk in the woods (aranya) to gather and eat certain herbs. Sir W. Jones has remarked the analogy between this and the Druidic ceremony of gathering the mistletoe (also on the Shashthi, or 6th day of the moon), as a preservative against sterility.
v2.c27.s3.t1.23
Festivals in the month Āsārh : June-July.—Asarh, the initiative month of the periodical rains, has no particular festivity at Udaipur, though in other parts of India the Rathayatra, or procession of the car of Vishnu or Jagannatha (lord of the universe) is well known : this is on the 2nd and the 11th, ‘the night of the gods,’ when Vishnu (the sun) reposes four months.
v2.c27.s3.t1.24
Festivals in the month Sāwan : July-August.—Sawan, classically Sravana. There are two important festivals, with processions, in this month.
v2.c27.s3.t1.25
The Tij.—The third, emphatically called ‘the Tij’ (third), is sacred to the mountain goddess Parvati, being the day on which, after long austerities, she was reunited to Siva : she accordingly declared it holy, and proclaimed that whoever invoked her on that day should possess whatever was desired. The Tij is accordingly reverenced by the women, and the husbandman of Rajasthan, who deems it a most favourable day to take possession of land, or to reinhabit a deserted dwelling. When on the expulsion of the predatory powers from the devoted lands of Mewar, proclamations were disseminated far and wide, recalling the expatriated inhabitants, they showed their love of country by obedience to the summons. Collecting their goods and chattels, they congregated from all parts, but assembled at a common rendezvous to make their entry to the bapota, ‘land of their sires,’ on the Tij of Sawan. On this fortunate occasion, a band of three hundred men, women, and children, with colours flying, drums beating, the females taking precedence with brass vessels of water on their heads, and chanting the suhaila (song of joy), entered the town of Kapasan, to revisit their desolate dwellings [580], and return thanks on their long-abandoned altars to Parvati¹ for a happiness they had never contemplated.
v2.c27.s3.t1.26
¹ The story of the vigils of Parvati, preparatory to her being reunited to her lord, consequent to her sacrifice as Sati, is the counterpart of the Grecian fable of Cybele, her passion for, and marriage with, the youth Atys or Papas, the Baba, or universal father, of the Hindus.
v2.c27.s3.t1.27
Red garments are worn by all classes on this day, and at Jaipur clothes of this colour are presented by the Raja to all the chiefs. At that court the Tij is kept with more honour than at Udaipur. An image of Parvati on the Tij, richly attired, is borne on a throne by women chanting hymns, attended by the prince and his nobles. On this day, fathers present red garments and stuffs to their daughters.
v2.c27.s3.t1.28
The Nāgpanchami Festival : Serpent Worship.—The 5th is the Nagpanchami, or day set apart for the propitiation of the chief of the reptile race, the Naga or serpent. Few subjects have more occupied the notice of the learned world than the mysteries of Ophite worship, which are to be traced wherever there existed a remnant of civilization, or indeed of humanity; among the savages of the savannahs² of America, and the magi of Fars, with whom it was the type of evil,—their Ahrimanes.³ The Nagas, or serpent-genii of the Rajputs, have a semi-human structure, precisely as Diodorus describes the snake-mother of the Scythae, in whose country originated this serpent-worship, engrafted on the tenets of Zardusht, of the Puranas of the priesthood of Egypt, and on the fables of early Greece.¹ Dupuis, Volney, and other expounders of the mystery, have given an astronomical solution to what they deem a varied ramification of an ancient fable, of which that of Greece, ‘the dragon guarding the fruits of Hesperides,’ may be considered the most elegant version. Had these learned men seen those ancient sculptures in India, which represent ‘the fall,’ they might have changed their opinion. The traditions of the Jains or Buddhists (originating in the land of the Takshaks,² or Turkistan) assert the creation of the human species in pairs, called jugal, who fed off the ever-fructifying kalpa-vriksha, which possesses all the characters of the Tree of Life, like it bearing
v2.c27.s3.t1.29
² How did a word of Persian growth come to signify ‘the boundless brake’ of the new world?
v2.c27.s3.t1.30
³ Ari, ‘a foe’; manus, ‘man.’ [Angro Mainyush, ‘destructive spirit.’]
v2.c27.s3.t1.31
¹ [There is no reason to believe that snake-worship was not independently practised in India.]
v2.c27.s3.t1.32
² This is the snake-race of India, the foes of the Pandus.
v2.c27.s3.t1.33
Ambrosial fruit of vegetable gold ;
v2.c27.s3.t1.34
which was termed amrita, and rendered them immortal. A drawing, brought by [581] Colonel Coombs, from a sculptured column in a cave temple in the south of India, represents the first pair at the foot of this ambrosial tree, and a serpent entwined among the heavily laden boughs, presenting to them some of the fruit from his mouth. The tempter appears to be at that part of his discourse, when
v2.c27.s3.t1.35
. . . his words, replete with guile,
Into her heart too easy entrance won :
Fixed on the fruit she gazed.
v2.c27.s3.t1.36
This is a curious subject to be engraved on an ancient pagan temple ; if Jain or Buddhist, the interest would be considerably enhanced. On this festival, at Udaipur, as well as throughout India, they strew particular plants about the threshold, to prevent the entrance of reptiles.
v2.c27.s3.t1.37
The Rākhi Festival.—This festival, which is held on the last day of Sawan, was instituted in honour of the good genii, when Durvasas the sage instructed Salono (the genius or nymph presiding over the month of Sawan) to bind on rakhis, or bracelets, as charms to avert evil. The ministers of religion and females alone are privileged to bestow these charmed wrist-bands. The ladies of Rajasthan, either by their handmaids or the family priests, send a bracelet as the token of their esteem to such as they adopt as brothers, who return gifts in acknowledgement of the honour. The claims thus acquired by the fair are far stronger than those of consanguinity : for illustration of which I may refer to an incident already related in the annals of this house.¹ Sisters also present their brothers with clothes on this day, who make an offering of gold in return.²
v2.c27.s3.t1.38
¹ See p. 364.
v2.c27.s3.t1.39
² I returned from three to five pieces of gold for the rakhis sent by my adopted sisters ; from one of whom, the sister of the Rana, I annually received this pledge by one of her handmaids ; three of them I have yet in my possession, though I never saw the donor, who is now no more. I had, likewise, some presented through the family priest, from the Bundi queen-mother, with whom I have conversed for hours, though she was invisible to me ; and from the ladies of rank of the chieftains’ families, but one of whom I ever beheld, though they often called upon me for the performance of brotherly offices in consequence of such tie. There is a delicacy in this custom, with which the bond uniting the cavaliers of Europe to the service of the fair, in the days of chivalry, will not compare.
v2.c27.s3.t1.40
This day is hailed by the Brahmans as indemnifying them for their expenditure of silk and spangles, with which they decorate the wrists of all who are likely to make a proper return.
v2.c27.s3.t1.41
Festivals in the month Bhādon : August-September.—On the 3rd there is a grand procession to the Chaugan ; and the 8th, or Ashtami, is the birth of Krishna, which will be described at large in an account of Nathdwara. There are several holidays in this month, when the periodical [582] rains are in full descent ; but that on the last but one (Sudi 14, or 29th) is the most remarkable.
v2.c27.s3.t1.42
Ancestor Worship.—On this day³ commences the worship of the ancestorial manes (the Pitrideva, or father-gods) of the Rajputs, which continues for fifteen days. The Rana goes to the cemetery at Ara, and performs at the cenotaph of each of his forefathers the rites enjoined, consisting of ablutions, prayers, and the hanging of garlands of flowers, and leaves sacred to the dead, on their monuments. Every chieftain does the same amongst the altars of the ‘ great ancients ’ (bara burha) ; or, if absent from their estates, they accompany their sovereign to Ara.
v2.c27.s3.t1.43
³ Sacred to Vishnu, with the title of Ananta, or infinite—Bhavishyottara. (See Asiatic Researches, vol. iii. p. 291.) Here Vishnu appears as ‘lord of the manes.’
Linked texts (1)
- Bhaviṣyapurāṇa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit