| Temples & Legends Of Bengal |
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| Temples & Legends Of India |
EKTESVARA |
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| The pathway
from the river ghat to the temple is filled with a long procession of devotees, attired in
their peculiar manner, with reeds, baskets of flowers, and garlands in their hands, round
their heads, and round their necks. They have fasted the whole day, and have not had even a drop of water to moisten their lips, but repeat as usual, in loud voices, the various names of the great deity and scatter flowers over the pat; here and there one sees solitary Bhaktas not walking on foot but rolling on the ground towards the temple. Later on, the pathway is illuminated, not by oil lamps or candles, but by numbers of female devotees carrying on their heads earthen pots filled with burning charcoal, kept alive by pouring powdered resin over it. As night advances, the crowd gradually withdraws, and only a few spectators remain to pass the night in the holy place. Among other ceremonies performed in the darkness, which follows, a great fire is lit, which is said to be an imitation of the cremation of a Sati or virtuous wife with the corpse of her husband, the ceremony being therefore called satidaha. |
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| About Ektesvara | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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