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Sculptured Guards of an Indian Temple
10 landing-place is an elephant as large as holds a cobra, which is a large poisonous life, hewn out of a rock.
The roof of the snake; the explanation of his holding a cave is quite flat, supported by stone pil- snake being that in India for a long time lars, consequently the inside of the temple snakes have been considered sacred; a is dark and gloomy. In addition to a good Hindoo would, therefore, think it great many gods and goddesses of all wrong to put one to death. In some of the temples are images of cobras made men were who had left behind them such of precious metals, and are ornamented a wonderful proof of their skill and skili and with diamonds, pearls, and jewels of all patience. All at once he spied a quantity kinds. of rare fruit hanging from the branches The gods and goddesses who inhabit of some trees, and as he saw no reason these Indian pagodas and temples, and in why he should not take advantage of such whose honor the edifices have been built, an unexpected treat, he gathered some, are not neglected by their worshippers. and then began to retrace his steps. Food is offered to them daily in the shape On reaching the entrance of the cave, of the cave, of rice, flour, butter, vegetables, milk, oil, to his astonishment he saw a god or godsalt and spices. During the meal the dess, at any rate a spirit of some kind, doors are closed, and music is to be heard. keeping guard as a sentinel; the sight of The fact is, of course, that the priests which caused a feeling of fear to creep have the benefit of all the good things over him, lest he should be punished for offered to the idols. the theft he had just committed.
At the south of Bhagulpore is a great In his alarm, and still at the same time plain which stretches between two ranges not being willing to relinquish his prize, of lofty mountains, and in this plain rises he made an attempt to swallow the fruit, one lonely peak of very strange appear- when, sad to relate, the poor man's body ance. There is a staircase dug out of the began to swell, to such an enormous size rock, at the top of which is an immense that it was at last too large to go through face, also dug out of the rock, and appear- the door, so there it stuck. ing to rest on a kind of platform.
Whatever its real history may be, the legend now connected with it is, that once upon a time a shepherd went into the cavern, wondering who the clever work- As time passed by, and nobody went to release the shepherd from his miserable position, he gradually turned into stone, and there he has stood ever since, an object of awe to every beholder.
