Manners and Customs. Next to the complexion of the people, which varies from fair to black, the tourist's attention in India is drawn by their dress and personal decoration. In its simplest form a Hindu's dress consists of a piece of cloth round the loins. Many an ascetic, who regards dress as a luxury, wears nothing more, and he would dispense with even so much if the police al lowed him to. The Mahomedan always covers his legs, generally with trousers, sometimes with a piece of cloth tied round the waist and reaching to the ankles. Hill men and women, who at one time wore a few leaves before and behind and were totally innocent of clothing, do not appear to-day within the precincts of civilisation and will not meet the tourist's eye. Children, either absolutely nude or with a piece of metal hanging from the waist in front, may be seen in the streets in the most advanced cities, and in the homes of the rich. The child Krishna, with all the jewels on his person, is nude in his pictures and images. Dress. The next stage in the evolution of the Hindu dress brings the loincloth nearly down to the feet. On the Malabar coast, as in Burma, the ends are left loose in front. In the greater part of India, they are tucked up behind-a fashion which is supposed to befit the warrior, or one end is gathered up in folds before and the other tucked up behind. The simplest dress for the trunk is a scarf thrown over the left shoulder, or round both the shoulders like a Roman toga. Under this garment is often worn a coat or a shirt. When an Indian appears in his full indigenous dress, he wears a long robe, reaching at least down to the calves: the sleeves may be wide, or long and sometimes puckered from the wrist to the elbow. Before Europeans introduced buttons, a coat was fastened by ribbons, and the fashion is not obsolete. The Mahomedan prefers to button his coat to the left, the Hindu to the right. A shawl is tied round the waist over the long coat, and serves as a belt, in which one may carry money or a weapon, if allowed. The greatest variety is shown in the headdress. More han seventy shapes of caps, trousers, a tall head-dress befitting his stature and covers his ears with its folds as if to keep off cold. The poorer people in Bengal and Madras do not cover their heads, except when they work in the sun or must appear respectable. Many well-to-do Indians wear European dress at the present day, or a compromise between the Indian and European costumes; notably the Indian Christians and Parsis. Most Parsis however have retained their own headdress, and many have not borrowed the European collar and cuffs. The majority of the people do not use shoes: those who can afford them wear sandals, slippers and shoes, and a few cover their feet with stockings and boots after the European fashion in public. Women's Costumes.-The usual dress of a woman consists of a long piece of cloth tied round the waist, with olds in front, and one end brought over the shoulder or the head. The folds are sometimes drawn in and tucked up behind. In the greater part of India women wear a bodice: on the Malabar coast many do not, but merely throw a piece of cloth over the breast. In some communities petticoats or drawers, or both are worn. Many Mussalınan ladies wear gowns and scarfs over them. The vast majority of Mahomedan women are gosha and their dress and persons are hidden by a veil when they appear in public: a few converts from Hinduism have not borrowed the custom. In Northern India Hindu women have generally adopted the Mussalman practice of seclusion. In the Dekhan and in Southern India they have not. As a rule the hair is daily oiled, combed, parted in the middle of the head, plaited and rolled into a chignon, by most women. Among high caste Hindu widows sometimes shave their heads in imitation of certain ascetics, or monks and nuns. Hindu men do not, as a rule, completely shave their heads, Mahomedans in most cases do. The former generally remove the hair from a part of the head in front, over the temples, and near the neck, and grov it in the centre, the quantity grown depending hats, and turbans, may be seen in the city of upon the fancy of the individual. Nowadays Other parts of the body are also similarly ridiculing him. The different parts of his body Bombay. In the Punjab and the United Provinces, in Bengal, in Burma and in Madras other varieties prevail. Cones and cylinders, domes and truncated pyramids, high and low, with sides at different angles folded brims, projecting brims: long strips of cloth wound round the head or the cap in all possible ways, ingenuity culminating perhaps in the "parrot's beak" of the Maratha turban-all these fashions have been evolved by different communities and in different places, so that a trained eyc can tell from the head-covering whether the wearer is a Hindu, Mahomedan or Parsi, and whether he hails from Poona or Dharwar, Ahmedabad or Bhavnagar. Fashion Variations.-Fashions often vary with climate and occupation. The Bombay fisherman may wear a short coat and a cap, and may carry a watch in his pocket; yet, as he must work for long hours in water, he would not cover his legs, but suspend only a coloured kerchief from his waist in front. The Pathan of the cold north-west affects loose baggy many keep hair cropped in the European fashion, which is also followed by Parsis and Indian Christians. Most Mussalmans grow beards, most Hindus do not, except in Bengal and elsewhere, where the Mahomedan influence was paramount in the past. Parsis and Christians follow their individual inclinations. Hindu ascetics, known as Sadhus or Bairagis as distinguished from Sanyasis, do not clip their hair, and generally coil the uncombed hair of the head into a crest, in imitation of the god Shiva. Hindu women wear more ornaments than others of the corresponding grade in society. Ornaments bedeck the head, the ears, the nose, the neck, the arms, wrists, fingers, the waist-until motherhood is attained, and by some even later-and the toes. Children wear anklets. Each community affects its peculiar ornaments, though imitation is not uncommon. Serpents with several heads, and flowers, like the lotus, the rose, and the champaka, are among the most popular object of representation in gold or silver. Caste Marks.-Caste marks constitute a mode of personal decoration peculiar to Hindus, especially of the higher castes. The simplest mark is a round spot on the forehead. It represents prosperity or joy, and is omitted in mourning and on fast-days. It may be red, or yellowish as when it is made with ground sandalwood paste. The worshippers of Vishnu draw a vertical line across the spot, and as Lakshmi is the goddess of prosperity, it is said to represent her. A more elaborate mark on the forehead has the shape of U or V, generally with the central line, sometimes without it, and represents Vishnu's foot. The worshippers of Shiva adopt horizontal lines, made with sandalwood paste or ashes. Some Vaishnavas stamp their temples, near the corners of the eyes, with figures of Vishnu's conch and disc. ing is attached to every part of his physical personality. The three eyes denote an insight into the past, present and future: the moon. the serpents, and the skulls denote months, years and cycles, for Shiva is a personification of time, the great destroyer. He is also worshipped as a Linga or phallus which represents creative energy. Ganpati.-Ganesh or Ganpati, the controller of all powers of evil subject to Shiva, is worshipped by all sects throughout India. Every undertaking is begun with a prayer to him. He has the head of an elephant, a large abdomen, serpents about his waist and wrists, several weapons in his hands, and a piece of his tusk in one hand. He is said to have broken it off when he wanted to attack the moon for marked. The material used is a kind of yellowish clay. To smear the arms and the chest with sandalwood paste is a favourite kind of toilet, especially in the hot season. Beads of Tulsi or sacred Basil, and berries of Rudraksha elcocarpus ganitrus, strung together are worn round their necks by Vaishnavas and Shaivas, respectively. The Lingayats, a Shaiva sect, suspend from their necks a metallic casket containing the Linga or phallus of their god. Bairagis, ascetics, besides wearing Rudraksha rosaries round their necks and matted hair, smear their bodies with ashes. Religious mendicants suspend from their necks figures of the gods in whose name they beg. Strings of cowries may also be seen round their necks. Muslim dervishes sometimes carry peacock's feathers. Hindu women mark their foreheads with a red spot or horizontal line. High caste widows are forbidden to exhibit this sign of happiness, as also to deck themselves with flowers or ornaments. Flowers are worn in the chignon. Hindu women smear their faces, arms, and feet sometimes with a paste of turmeric, so that they may shine like gold. The choice of the same colour for different purposes cannot always be explained in the same way. The red liquid with which the evil eye is averted may be a substitute for the blood of the animal slaughtered for the purpose in former times. In many other cases this colour has no such associations. The Muslim dervish affects green, the Sikh Akali is fond of blue, the Sanyasi adopts orange for his robe, and no reason can be assigned with any degree of certainty. Shiva. India is a land of temples, mos ques and shrines, and the Hindu finds at every turn some supernatural power to be appeased, Shiva has the largest number of worshippers. He has three eyes, one in his forehead, a moon's crescent in his matted hair, and at the top of the coil a woman's face representing the river Ganges. His abode is the Mount Kailas in the Himalayas, from which the river takes its source. Round his neck and about his ears and limbs are serpents, and he also wears a necklace of skulls. In his hands are several weapons, especially a trident, a bow, and a thunderbolt, and also a drum which he sounds while dancing for he is very fond of this exercise. He sits on a tiger's skin, and his vehicle is a white bull. His wife Parvati and his son Ganesha sit on his thighs. An esoteric mean are also esoterically explained. His vehicle is a rat. Parvati. Parvati, the female energy of Shiva, is worshipped under various names and forms. She is at the head of all female supernatural powers, many of whom are her own manifestations. Some are benign and beautiful, others terrible and ugly. Kali, the tutelary deity of Kalighat or Calcutta, is one of her fierce manifestations In this form she is black: a tongue smeared with blood projects from her gaping mouth: besides her weapons, she carries corpses in her hands, and round her neck are skulls. Bombay also takes its name from a goddess, Mumbadevi. Gouri, to whom offerings are made in Indian homes at an annual festival, is benign. On the other hand the epidemic diseases like the plague and smallpox are caused by certain goddesses "mothers." or Vishnu, the second member of the Hindu trinity, is the most popular deity next to Shiva. He is worshipped through his several incarnations as well as his original personality. His home is the ocean of milk, where he reclines on the coils of a huge, many-headed serpent. At his feet sits Lakshmi, shampooing his legs. From his navel issues a lotus, on which is seated Brahma, the third member of the trinity. In his hands are the conch, which he blows on the battlefield, and the disc, with which the heads of his enemies are severed. Round his neck are garlands of leaves and flowers, and on his breast are shining jewels. As Shiva represents destruction, Vishnu represents protection, and his son is the god of love. To carry on the work of protection, he incarnates himself from time to time and more temples are dedicated nowadays to his most popular incarnations, Rama and Krishna, than to his original personality. Rama is a human figure, with a bow in one of his hands. He is always accompanied by his wife Sita, often by his brother Lakshmana, and at his feet, or standing before him with joined hands, is Hanuman, the monkey chieftain, who assisted him in his expedition against Ravana, the abductor of his wife. Krishna is also a human figure, generally represented as playing on a flute, with which he charmed the damsels of his city, esoterically explained to mean his devotees. Brahma is seldom worshipped: only a ccuple of temples dedicated to him have yet been discovered in aii India. Minor Deities - The minor gods and goddesses and the deified heroes and heroines who fill the Hindu pantheon, and to whom shrines are erected and worship is offered, constitute a legion. Many of them enjoy a local reputation, are unknown to sacred literature, and are worshipped chiefly by the lower classes. Some of them, though not mentioned in ancient literature, are celebrated in the works of modern saints. The Jains in their temples, adore the sacred personages who founded and developed their sect, and venerate some of the deities common to Hinduism. But their view of Divinity is different from the Hindu conception, and in the opinion of Hindu theologians they are atheists. So also the Buddhists of Burma pay almost the same veneration to Prince Siddhartha as if he was a god, and indeed elevate him above the Hindu gods, but from the Hindu standpoint they are also atheists. Images. Besides invisible powers and deified persons, the Hindus venerate certain animals, trees and inanimate objects. This veneration must have originated in gratitude, fear, wonder, and belief in spirits as the cause of all good or harm. Some of the animals are vehicles of certain gods and goddesses-the eagle of Vishnu: the swan of Brahma: the peacock of Saraswati: Hanuman, the monkey of Rama: one serpent upholds the earth, another makes Vishnu's bed: elephants support the ends of the universe, besides one such animal being Indra's vehicle: the goddess Durga or Kali rides on a tiger: one of Vishnu's incarnations was partly man and partly lion. The cow is a useful animal to the Brahman vegetarian her milk is indispensable, and he treats her as his mother. So did the Rishi of oid, who often subsistea on milk and fruits and roots. To the agriculturist cattle are indispensable. The snake excites fear. Stones, on which the image of a serpent is carved, may be seen under many trees by the roadside. The principal trees and plants worshipped are the Sacred Fig or Pipal, the Banyan, the Sacred Basil, the Bilva or Wood Apple, the Asoka, and the Acacia. They are in one way or another associated with some deity. The sun, the moon, and certain planets are among the heavenly bodies venerated. The ocean and certain great rivers are held sacred. Certain mountains, perhaps because they are the abodes of gods and Rishis, are holy. Pebbles from the Gandaki and the Narmada, which have curious lines upon them, are worshipped in many households and temples. Worship. Without going into a temple, one can get a fair idea of image worship by seeing how a serpent-stone is treated under a tree. It is washed, smeared with sandal, decorated with flowers: food in a vessel is placed before it, lamps are waved, and the worshipper goes round it, and bows down his head, or prostrates himself before the image. In a temple larger bells are used than the small ones that are brought to such a place: jewels are placed on the idol and the offerings are on a larger scale. Idols are carried in public procession in palanquins or cars. The lower classes sacrifice animals before their gods and goddesses. Domestic Life. Of the daily domestic life of the people a tourist cannot see much. He may see a marriage or funeral procession. In the former he may notice how a bridegroom or bride is decorated the latter may shock him, for a Hindu dead body is generally carried on a few pieces of bamboo lashed together: a thin cloth is thrown over it and the body is tied to the frame. The Mahomedan bier is more decent, and resembles the Christian coffin. Some Hindus, however, carry the dead to the burial ground in a palanquin with great pomp. The higher castes cremate the dead: others bury them. Burial is also the custom of the Muslims, and the Parsis expose the dead in Towers of Silence. Indian The personal name of most Hindus denotes a material object, colour, or quality, an animal, a relationship, or a deity. The uneducated man, who cannot correctly pronounce long Sanskrit words, is content to call his child, father, brother, uncle, or mother, or sister, as the case may be. This practice survives among the higher classes as well. Appa Saheb, Anda Rao, Babaji, Bapu Lal, Bhai Shankar, Tatacharya, Jijibhai, are names of this description, with honorific titles added. It is possible that in early society the belief in the re-birth of departed kinsmen lent popularity to this practice. Nothing could be more natural than to call a man white, black, or red: gold or silver: gem, diamond, ruby, pearl, or merely a stone: small or tall, weak or strong a lion, a snake, a parrot, or a dog and to name a woman after a flower or a creeper. Thus, to take a few names from the epics, Pandu means Names. white, and so does Arjuna: Krishna black. Bhima terrible: Nakula a mongoose: Shunaka a dog: Shuka a parrot: Shringa a horn. Among the names prevalent at the present day Hira is a diamond: Ratna or Ratan a jewel: Sonu or Chinna gold: Velli or Belli, in the Dravidian languages, means white metal or silver. Men are often called after the days of the week on which they were born, and hence they bear the names of the seven heavenly bodies concerned. When they begin to assume the names of the Hindu deities, they practically enter upon a new stage of civilisation. It is doubtful whether the Animists ever venture to assume the names of the dreaded spirits worshipped by them. To pronounce the name of a devil is to invite him to do harm. If the spirits sometimes bear the names of human beings, the reason seems to be that they were originally human. 32 Indian Names. star: High-caste practices. The high caste Hindu, on the other hand, believes that the more often the name of a deity is on his lips, the more merit he earns. Therefore he deliberately names his children after his gods and goddesses, so that he may have the opportunity of pronouncing the holy names as frequently as possible. These are also sonorous and picturesque. Shiva is happy: Vishnu is a pervader: Govinda is the cowherd Krishna: Keshava has fine hair: Rama is a delighter: Lakshmana is lucky: Narayana produced the first living being on the primeval waters: Ganesha is the Lord of Shiva's hosts: Dinakara is the luminary that makes the day: Subrahmanya is a brother of Ganesha. Sita is a furrow: Saitri a ray of light: Tara a Radha prosperity: Rukmini is she of golden ornaments: Bhama of the glowing heart. Shiva and Vishnu has each got at least a thousand names, and they may be freely drawn upon and paraphrased in naming one's children; and the whole Hindu pantheon is as crowded as it is large. When a mother loses several children, she begins to suspect that some evil spirit has conspired against her and in order to make her off-spring unattractive to the powers of darkness, she gives them ugly names, such as Keru, rubbish, or Ukirda, dunghill, or Martoba, the mortal. Women are named after rivers, as Sarasvati, Ganga, Bhagirathi, Godavari, or Kaveri, just as men are sometimes called after mountains. Manu counsels young men not to choose a wife with such a name, perhaps because a river is an emblem of deviousness and inconstancy, as a hill is an emblem of stability. But the names of rivers have not been discarded. The Burmans have a curious custom if a child is born on a Monday, its name must begin with a guttural, on Tues day with a palatal, on Thursday with a labial, on Saturday wth a dental. Family names. When a person rises in Importance, he adds to his personal name a family or caste name. It was once the rule that the title Sharma might be added to a Brahman's name, Varma to a Kshatriya's, Gupta to a Vaishyas, and Dasa to a Shudra's. This rule is fairly well observed in the case of the first two titles, but the meaning of the other two has changed. Dasa means a slave or servant, and the proudest Brahman cannot disdain to call himself the servant of some ome god. Thus, although Kalidas, the famous poet, was a Shudra, Ramadas, the famous guru of Shivaji, was a Brahmin. The Vaishnavas have made this fashion of calling oneself a servant of some god exceedingly popular, and in Western India high caste Hindus of this sect very commonly add Das to their names. The Brahmans of Southern India add Aiyer or Aiyangar to their names. Shastri, Acharya, Bhat, Bhattacharya, Upadhyaya, Mukhopadhyaya, changed in Bengal into Mukerji, are among the titles indicative of the Brahmanical profession of studying and teaching the sacred books. Among warlike classes, like the Rajputs and Sikhs, the title Singh (lion) has become more popular than the ancient Varma. The Sindhi Mal, as in Gidumal, means brave and has the same force. Raja Dutt and Mitra, Sen and Guha, enable Gre Ram, a name Professional names.-Family names some times denote a profession: in some cases they might have been conferred by the old rulers. Mehta, Kulkarni, Deshpande, Chitnavis, Mahalnavis are the names of offices held in former times. One family name may mean a flour seller, another a cane-seiler, and a third liquor-seller. To insert the father's a common practice in Western India. It is between one's personal and the family name is rare elsewhere. When a family comes from a certain place, the suffix 'kar' or 'wallah' is added to the name of the place and it makes a may have Chiplunkars and Suratwalahs, or family surname in Western India. Thus we without these affixes we may have Bhavnagris, Malabaris and Bilimorias, as Thue Vasudev Pandurang Chiplunkar would be a Hindu, whose personal name is Vasudev's father's name Pandurang, and family name lunkar. In Southern India the village name derived from the village of Chiplun, is Chipprecedes the personal name. The evolution as Hindu names. of Musalman names follows the same lines among Parsis. But Muslims have no god The Parsis also or goddesses, and their names are derived When a boy is invested Conversions. As a rule, a child is named soon after it is born, and in the case of males the appellation is not changed. The higher Hindu castes have a separate ceremony called the name-giving ceremony performed on the twelfth day after birth. When a girl is married a new personal name. in these castes, the husband's family give her with the sacred thread and is made a twiceborn, his name is not changed, but when a man joins an order of ascetics, his lay name is dropped, and he assumes a new name. So aiso when a Burman joins an order of monks or name. Christian converts change their origina nuas, the lay name is superseded by a Pali name when they are baptised, Indian Art. In India there has never been so marked a - separation between what are now known as the Fine Arts, and those applied to industry as was the case in Europe during the nineteenth century. As, however, Industrial art forms the subject of a special article in this book, the term Indian Art will here be confined to Architecture, Sculpture and Painting. Historical-The degree of proficiency attained in art by Indians prior to B. C. 250, can only be conjectured by their advancement in literature; and by the indirect evidences of indebtedness shown by the works of the historic period, to those which preceded them; or direct records of artistic work of an earlier date than B. C. 250 do not exist. The chief historic schools of architecture are as follows:Locality of the best Examples. Name. Buddhist Dates. ..B.C.250A.D.750. ..A.D.10001300. Brahminica..A.D. 500 to Jaina Ellora, Ajanta, Kali, Ellora, Mount Abu, Ellora, Elephanta, the present Orissa, Bhuvanesday. 1200. war, Dharwar. Chalukyan ..A.D.1000- Umber, Somnathpur, Ballur. _ Dravidian ..A.D.1350- Ellora, Tanjore, Madura, Tinnevelly. 1750. Pathan ..A.D.1200- Delhi, Mandu, Jaun 1550. pore. Indo-Saracenic A.D.1520- Lahore, Delhi, Agra, Amber, Bijapur. 1760 Buddhist Architecture is mainly exemplified by the rock-cut temples and monasteries found in Western India and in the Topes or sacred mounds. The interior decorations, and external facades of the former, and the rails and gates surrounding the latter point unmistakably to their being derived from wooden structures of an earlier period. The characteristic features of these temples are horse-shoe openings in the facades to admit light, and collo nades of pillars with richly ornamented caps in the interior halls. Jaina Architecture is found in its most highly developed form in the Dilwara temples at Mount Abu. The ground plan consists of a shrine for the god or saint; a porch, and an arcaded courtyard with niches for images. The characteristic of the style is grace and lightness, with decorative carving covering the whole interior, executed with great elaboration and detail. Constructional methods suggest that original types in wood have been copied in marble. Brahminical, Chalukyan and Dravidian styles differ little in essential plan, all having a shrine for the god, preceded by pillared porches. The outer forms vary. The northern Brahminical temples have a curved pyramidal roof to the shrines, which in the southern or Dravidian style are crowned by a horizontal system of storied towers, and each story, de creasing in size, is ornamental with a central cell and figures in high relief. The Chalukyan style is affected by its northern and southern neighbours, taking features from each without was losing its own special characteristics of which the star-shaped plan of the shrine, with the fivefold bands of external ornament, is the principal feature. Pathan Architecture introduced into India by the Mahomedan invasion of the thirteenth century. At old Delhi are fine examples in the Kutub Mosque and Minar. The characteristics of the style are severity of outline, which is sometimes combined with elaborate decoration due, it is stated, to the employment of Hindu craftsmen. The mosques and tombs at Ahmedabad already show Hindu influence; but purer examples are to be found at Jaunpore and Mandu. Indo-Saracenic Architecture reached the climax of its development during the reigns of the Moghul Emperors. Akbar, Jehangir and Shah Jahan. It eclipsed in richness of material and refinement of taste the building efforts of previous periods, its crowning example being the Taj Mahal at Agra. The buildings erected during the Adil Shahi dynasty at Bijapur at a slightly later date, exhibit a certain Turkish influence, especially in the great tomb of Mahmoud. Though less refined and lacking the attraction of precious materials in their decoration, these splendid edifices are held in higher esteem by some critics than those of the Moghals, on account of their simplicity, grandeur and fine proportions. The era of great civil architecture in India was revived by the Mahomedan powers. Splendid palaces and fortresses were built at Madras, Delhi, Agra, Fattehpore-Sikri and Bijapur, and the example thus set was copied by the Hindu princes at Jaipur, Udaipur and elsewhere in India. The application of great architectural treatment, unequalled in extent elsewhere, is to be seen in the Ghauts or steps enclosing lakes and on the banks of rivers. The most notable constructional contribution of the Mahomedans to Indian architecture was the introduction of the true arch and dome. Sculpture. The use of sculpture and painting in isolated works of art was practically non-existent in India until modern times. One or two reliefs and certain gigantic figures may be quoted as exceptions, but taken generally it may be stated that these arts were employed as the decorative adjuncts of architecture. No civil statuary, such as is now understood by the term, was executed; for no contemporary portrait figures, or busts in marble, or bronze, have come down to us from the ruins of ancient India, as they have from those of Egypt, Greece and Rome. Sculpture has been used exclusively as the handmaid of religion, and to this fact may be attributed the stereotyped forms to which it became bound. The lavish use of sculpture on Indian temples often exceeds good taste, and mars the symmetry and dignity of their mass and outline; but for exuterance of imagination, industrious elaboration and vivid expression of movement, Indian sculpture is perhaps without its equal elsewhere in the world. The most impressive pecimens are the earliest, found in the Buddhist aad Brahminical cave temples of Ellora, Ajanta and Elephanta. The great Trimurthi in the last named of these temples ranks for mystery |