Sketch of the Religious Sects of the Hindus c5.58

c5.58

yet there can be little doubt, that a large portion of the Hindu Pantheon formerly enjoyed honours, which have for some centuries past been withheld. In this predicament are INDRA, KUVERA, YAMA, VARUNA, GARU'DA, SESHA, and SOMA, all of whom, in the golden age of Hindu idolatry, had, no doubt, temples and adorers : the light and attractive service of the god of love, indeed, appears to have been formerly very popular, as his temples and groves make a distinguished figure in the* tales, poems, and dramas of antiquity : it is a feature that singularly characterises the present state of the Hindu religion, that if in some instances it is less ferocious, in others, it has ceased to address itself to the amiable propensities of the human character, or the spontaneous and comparatively innocent feelings of youthful natures. The buffoonery of the Holi, and barbarity of the Cherak Puja, but ill express the sympathies which man, in all countries, feels with the vernal season, and which formerly gave rise to the festive Vasanotsava of the Hindus, and the licentious homage paid to Sakti and BHAIRAVA, has little, in common with the worship, that might be supposed acceptable to KA'MA and his lovely bride, and which it would appear they formerly enjoyed.