In sailing down the Ganges one may pass
in the course of a day half a dozen such fairs, each with a multitude
equal to the population of a large city, and rendered beautifully
picturesque by the magnificence and variety of the tent equipages of
the great and wealthy. The preserver of the universe (_Bhagvan_)
Vishnu is supposed, on the 26th of Asarh, to descend to the world
below (_Patal_) to defend Raja Bali from the attacks of Indra, to
stay with him four months, and to come up again on the 26th
Kartik.[3] During his absence almost all kinds of worship and
festivities are suspended; and they recommence at these fairs, where
people assemble to hail his resurrection.
Our tents were pitched upon a green sward on one bank of a small
stream running into the Nerbudda close by, while the multitude
occupied the other bank. At night all the tents and booths are
illuminated, and the scene is hardly less animated by night than by
day; but what strikes a European most is the entire absence of all
tumult and disorder at such places. He not only sees no disturbance,
but feels assured that there will be none; and leaves his wife and
children in the midst of a crowd of a hundred thousand persons all
strangers to them, and all speaking a language and following a
religion different from theirs, while he goes off the whole day,
hunting and shooting in the distant jungles, without the slightest
feeling of apprehension for their safety or comfort.
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