Clip of the Day 7/28/2022

Phillipsburg Herald, 1896

"All the world has heard the word Juggernaut. Not half the world knows its vast and ancient significance. To the average New Yorker this day it calls to mind only a death dealing trolley car."

"But to the East Indian, reared in the faith of his fathers, Juggernaut implies all the religious mysteries, all power and perpetuity."

"A correspondent has sent to the Journal an interesting photography of the great car of Juggernaut before which the Hindoo devotees used to cast themselves, thinking that, so sacrificing their lives, their souls passed at once to Heaven"

"Juggernaut (which is Sanskrit for Lord of the World) is a name given to the Indian god Krishna, the eighth incarnation of Vishnu. The temple is in Puri, a town on the Bay of Bengal"

"The image is a rude one, of wood. The body is red, the face black, the arms gilt. The face is hideously daubed with color. The deity is supposed to be shut up within the cavity of the idol's heart."

"The periodical worships are attended by thousands. The idol formerly was drawn about on a giant car, which is 200 feet high. There was shouting, singing and fanatic excitement"

"Flowers and sacrifices were strewn in the idol's path, and in their fervor the wretched worshipers hurled themselves beneath the car and were crushed to death. Under the influence of British rule that suicidal practice has been discontinued"