The Hindoos as They Are A Description of the Manners, Customs and the Inner Life of Hindoo Society in Bengal

In the beginning of this sketch I set out by stating that the peculiar constitution of Hindoo society bears an affinity to the old patriarchal system. This is true to a very gre...

Here we come to the climax of interest. The bridegroom and the bride, adorned with a wealth of flower wreaths, and dressed in red-bordered Dacca clothes, with sandal paste on th...

I had almost forgotten to say anything about the annual gratuity which the Brahmins of Bengal obtain on the occasion of this festival. From time immemorial, when orthodox Hindoo...

It was evening, and Grish, the son, returned home from office. Before he had time to take off his office dress, the old mother, impatient to tell him what had occurred during th...

Kali is also the guardian deity of thieves, robbers, _thugs_ and such like desperate characters. Before starting on their diabolical work, they invoke her aid to protect them fr...

[119] Apart from erroneous popular notions, which in this age of depravity are corrupted by vanity, the Hindoo Shastra, be it mentioned to its credit, abounds in explicit injunc...

It has been urged by some native physicians that the Sanskrit work, _Ayurveda_, above-mentioned, treats of anatomy and of the doctrine of the circulation of the blood. If this b...

If the qualities of a youth are to be appraised, they describe him thus: he is as beautiful as _Kartick_ (the god of beauty), his deportment is that of a nobleman, he is free fr...

By far the most popular religious festival of the present day among the Hindoos of Bengal, is the _Doorga Poojah_, which in the North-Western and Central Provinces is called the...

The late Baboo Ram Gopal Ghose, a distinguished merchant and reformer of this City, had a country residence at Bagati, near Tribani, in the Hooghly district, about 100 miles eas...

Another ceremony which is performed by the females on this particular day is their worship of living Brahmin _Komarees_ (virgins) and matrons (_sodhavas_). After washing and wip...

It is a pity that Hindoo females are withdrawn from schools the moment they are married; this is an insuperable obstacle to the full development of their mental powers. The prog...

As regards the other amusements at this popular festival, a few words about the Indian _nautch_ (dancing) girls may not be out of place here. These women have no social status,...

The social relaxations of Hindoo females have a very limited range. Some delight in reading the Mahábhárat, the Ramayán, tales, romances, etc., while others are fond of needle-w...

It is but just to observe that the more respectable classes are restrained by a sense of honor from participating with the populace in the vicious pleasures of undisciplined pas...

When engaged in an animated discussion, these Pundits will not desist or halt until they are separated by their other learned friends of the faculty. Some of them are very learn...

On the celebration of _Paunchámrita_ above mentioned the officiating priest, after repeating the usual incantation, pours into her mouth a little of the delicacies, without the...

Every Hindoo, young or old, who is able to read and write, observes this ceremony with apparent solemnity, abstaining from the use of fish on that day as a mark of reverence to...

[25] The cause of the fear is as follows: When Kartick (the god of beauty and the son of the goddess Doorga) went out to marry, he had forgotten to take with him the usual pair...

It is obvious that the peculiar social economy of the Natives presents an almost insuperable barrier to the harmonious amalgamation of the different classes artificially split i...

The king, Aswapati, thought of marrying his only daughter, then in the fullness and freshness of youth, to some one worthy of the honor. For some time no royal suitors ventured...

Rámkánto, (taking Mohun aside) Baba, what will I say? To tell you the truth, I have no very great hopes of his recovery, the case is serious, if through the blessing of God he g...

When, a few years ago, Sir Richard Temple carefully examined the Criminal Statistics of Bengal, he was most deeply concerned to find that the proportion of the Brahmin criminals...

Babu Shib Chunder Bose is an enlightened Bengali, of matured conviction and character, who, having received the stirring impulse of Western culture and thought during the early...

[13] In cases where a woman is prolific enough to give birth to a child every year she is placed under the necessity of weaning her first-born, and giving it cow milk, a mode of...

When full justice has been done to the feast provided for the occasion, the crowd melts away and streams out at the door, well pleased with the reception they have had. It is mu...

The females on the side of the bride, with the help of a matron, exercise their utmost ingenuity, and literally rack their brains, in devising all manner of contrivances partaki...

It is a remarkable fact, says Ward, that "the sceptical part of mankind have always been partial to heathenism. Voltaire, Gibbon, Hume &c. have been often charged with a strong...