Hundreds of lights and
lamps, placed between vases and garlands of flowers, glitter in the
room, the court-yard, and outside the house. A number of different
animals are offered up as sacrifices; they are not slain, however,
in the presence of the goddess, but in some retired part of the
house. Priests attend upon the goddess, and female dancers display
their talent before her, accompanied by the loud music of the tam-
tam. Both priests and danseuses are liberally paid. Some of the
latter, like our Taglionis and Elslers, earn large sums. During the
period of my stay here, there was a Persian danseuse, who never
appeared for less than 500 rupees (50 pounds.) Crowds of the
curious, among whom are numbers of Europeans, flock from one temple
to another; the principal guests have sweetmeats and fruit served
round to them.
On the last day of the festival the goddess is conveyed with great
pomp, and accompanied by music, to the Hoogly, where she is put in a
boat, rowed into the middle of the stream, and then thrown overboard
in the midst of the shouts and acclamations of the multitude upon
the banks.
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