Page:Deplorable effects of heathen superstition.pdf/9

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to the inner gate, lest the people should force that also; for there is an outer and inner gate to the town of Juggernaut; but they are both slightly constructed. Mr Hunter told me that similar accidents sometimes occur, and that many have been crushed to death by the pressure of the mob. He added, that sometimes a body of pilgrims, (consisting chiefly of women and children and old men,) trusting to the physical weight of their mass, will make, what he called, a charge on the armed guards, and overwhelm them; the guards not being willing, in such circumstances, to oppose their bayonets.

DESCRIPTION OF THE TEMPLE.

I have seen Juggernaut. The scene at Buddruck is but the vestibule to Juggernaut. No record of ancient or modern history can give, I think, an adequate idea of this valley of death; it may be truly compared with the valley of Hinnom. The idol called Juggernaut, has been considered as the Moloch of the present age; and he is justly so named, for the sacrifices offered up to him by self-devotement, are not less criminal, perhaps not less numerous, than those recorded of the Moloch of Canaan. Two other idols accompany Juggernaut, namely, Boloram and Shubudra, his brother and sister; for there are three Deities worshipped here. They receive equal adoration, and sit on thrones of nearly equal height.

This morning I viewed the Temple; a stupendous fabric, and truly commensurate with the