The gods remain in the summer-house for four or five days, and on the 10th of the moon begin their return journey (Bahuda) coming out by the Vijayadvara. The journey is not completed until the 14th or the 15th day. The slowness of the return journey is caused by the paucity of pilgrims most of whom leave Puri immediately afterthe first procession and the road being generally rendered difficult by heavy rains which set in about that time. On the day the cars arrive before the Great Temple, Laksmi is brought out from her mansion and placed in a pavilion on the roadside to welcome her lord, and escort him home. When the cars arrive at the Lion Gate, a rite is performed on the cars to celebrate the return and the reconquest of the Biue-Hill; whence its name Niladri Vijaya. This over, the Daityas carry the images to their sanctuary in the same way in which they bring them out. After placing them on their throne certain lustrations are performed by the priests to remove the de-filement to which they are subjected while in the car by the touch of people of all classes and castes who drag the vehicles.
This is the ceremony which has made the name of Jagannath a by word in the English Language, and associated it with everything that is odious and detestable. It is this which had made Jagannath in the eyes of some Europeans, "India's greatest monster of iniquity," "The mighty Pagoda or pagoda, the mirror of all wickedness and idolatry". It is this which made a Calcutta Reviewer exclaim—"There you may picture to yourself Christianity shuddering, there morality weeping. Momus is not to be found there , the god of mirth has slunk away trembling, as for intellect he slumbers in silence awaiting the dawn of a better day". But from what has been said above, it will be obvious to the unprejudiced reader that however puerile may be the idea of giving the godhead an evening airing in a car, there is nothing iniquitous, cruel or sanguinary in the ceremony. That in dragging such ill-constructed, unwieldy cars amidst dense masses of men,women and children excited to the utmost by religious enthusiasm, accidents do, and did, happen, is not to be denied. There have been self- sacrifices too. But neither the one nor the other can be attributed to Jagannath as an inseparable or inherent part of his cult, nor is it so frequent as in any way to justify the denunciations. Three hundred years ago Abul Fazl, a keen observer and if anything, hostile critic noticed nothing of the kind. A century iater Bernier, who indulges in a great deal of perfervid eloquene on the subject, did not certainly find the instances of self- immolation by any means too numerous. He says, "There elapses not a year but some of those poor miserable pilgrims who come from a distance weary and fatigued, are suffocated to death, everybody conferring benedictions on having been so fortunate as to have died on so holy an occasion. And when this car of infernal triumph is in motion, (believe me, this is no fiction, ) there are persons so besotted with false hopes and superstitious notions as to prostrate themselves on the ground under its large and huge wheels, which crush them to death." Mr. Stirling, in 1822 wrote, "During four years that I have witnessed the ceremony, three cases only of this revolting species of immolation have occurred, one of which I may observe, is doubtful, and should probably be ascribed to accident, in the other two instances the victims had long been suffering from some excruciating complaints,and chose this method of ridding themselves of the burthen of life, in preference to other modes of suicide so prevalent with the lower orders under similar circumstances." Mr. Mansbach, who was at Puri for some years has copied this unfortunately without acknowl-edgment, and added that excess of fanaticism which is stated in several Missionary accounts to prompt pilgrims to court death by throwing themselves in crowds underthe wheels ofthe car of Jagannath has never existed or has long ceased to actuate the present worshippers of that idol." Mr. Fergusson visited Puri in 1838, and at the Car Festival found so little to excite his horror that scouted the idea of the traditional enormity. He said:
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