Every Hindoo must bathe at least once in the day, and particularly in the morning; if he is pious and has time, he repeats the ceremony again in the evening.  The women bathe at home.

At the time of the festival called Mala, when the concourse of pilgrims is innumerable, the steps are crowded with masses of human beings, and the river appears as if covered with black spots from the number of the bathers’ heads.

The interior of the city is far less handsome than that portion which extends along the Ganges.  It contains many palaces; but these have not the same beautiful gateways, colonnades, and verandahs as those already described.  Many of these buildings are covered with fine cement, and others are painted with miserable frescoes.

The streets are for the most part both dirty and ugly, and many of them are so narrow, that there is scarcely room for a palanquin to pass.  At the corner of almost every house stands the figure of the god Shiva.

Among the temples in the town, the handsomest is the “Bisvishas:”  it has two towers connected by colonnades, with their summits covered with golden plates.  The temple is surrounded by a wall, but we were allowed to enter the fore-court, and to go as far as the entrance.  We saw inside several images of Vishnu and Shiva, wreathed with flowers, and strewn over with grains of rice, wheat, etc.  Small bulls of metal or stone stood in the porch, and living white bulls (of which I counted eight) wandered about at liberty.  The latter are considered sacred, and are allowed to roam where they please, and are not prevented from satisfying their hunger with even the sacrificial flowers and corn.

These sacred animals do not remain in the temples only—­they wander about the streets; and the people turn reverently out of their way, and frequently give them fodder.  They do not, however, allow them to eat the corn exposed for sale, as was formerly the case.  If one of the sacred animals happen to die, it is either thrown into the river or burnt.  They receive in this respect the same honour as the Hindoos themselves.

In the temple, there were men and women who had brought flowers, with which they decorated the images.  Some of them also laid a piece of money under the flowers.  They then sprinkled them over with Ganges’ water, and strewed rice and other corn about.

Near the temple are the most holy places in the town, namely—­the so-called “holy well” and the Mankarnika, a large basin of water.  The following anecdote is told of the former:—­

When the English had conquered Benares, they planted a cannon before the entrance of the temple to destroy the image of the god Mahadeo.  The Brahmins, greatly indignant at this, instigated the people to revolt, and they hastened in numerous crowds to the temple.  The English, to prevent a disturbance, said to the people:  “If your god is stronger than the Christian God, the balls will not hurt him; but if not, he will be broken to pieces.”  Of course; the latter was the result.  The Brahmins, however, did not give up their cause, but declared that they had seen the spirit of their god leave the idol before the cannon was fired, and plunge into the spring near at hand.  From this time the spring was considered sacred.