Besides the daily worship of the linga in the temples, there are several other periods in which images of Siva are worshipped under different forms ; and these are to be seen in numbers, conveyed through the streets of Calcutta, after the festivals in honour of Siva, to be cast into the river. In the month Phalguna he is wor shipped for one day as a mendicant. On the following day the images of hitn, with a bloated countenance, matted locks, and inflamed eyes, are carried in procession, attended by a large concourse of people, dancing, singing, and playing on various instrutnents, and thrown into the river. In the month of Mughut there is another festival in honour of him, called Hari Gauri, in which he is represented riding on a bull, with l'arvati on his knee. But the most celebrated occasion of his worship is in the month Cheitru, at the time that the ceremony of the Chark ha, or swinging by hooks fa.stened in the flesh of the back, is performed. This festival derives its name (Charkha or Chakra, a wheel or discus) from the circle performed in the swingiug part of it, that terminates the ceremonies, which should properly last a lunar month ; but the term is now much shortened, and the observances of it are limited to the followers of Siva. The higher classes do not engage in it, although they contribute towards the expense of, and counten ance it. The initiatory ceremonies of purification, abstinence, and exercises of devotion take place several days before the commencement of the rites, during which time the sanyasis, or worship pers, form themselves into parties, and wander about the streets with horns, drums, etc., making a most intolerable and horrid din. The first exhibition is that of suspension, which is per I formed by two posts being erected, on the top of which is placed a strong bar, from which the sanyasi or worshipper is suspended by his feet over a fire, kindled beneath him, into which rosin is occasionally cast. IIis head is then completely enveloped in the smoke, though sufficiently high to be beyond the reach of the flame. On the following day the sanyasis dance and roll themselves upon the beds formed of various descriptions of prickly plants. Their next ceremony is called the Jamp Sanya, or jumping on a couch of pointed steel, which has been thus described. A bamboo scaffolding of three or four stages is erected, on which the sanyasis stand, tier above tier, the principal and most expert occupying the upper row, which is some times between 20 and 30 feet high. A kind of bedding, supported by ropes, is stretched beneath the scaffolding by a number of men. Upon the mattress are attached several bars of wood, to which are fixed very loosely, and in a position sloping forward, semicircular knives, upon which the sanyasis throw themselves in succession. In general, the effect of the fall is to turn the knives fiat upon the bedding, in which case they do no harm ; but occasionally severe wounds, and even death, are the consequences of this rite. Before they take their leap, the performers cast fruits, such as cocoanuts, betel, plantains, etc., among the crowd, on which there is a great scramble for them, as they are supposed to possess much virtue. Women desirous of progeny are very anxious to get these donations, and those of the first families send persons to obtain and bring them for their private eating. The ensuing day
is spent in revelling and dancing among burning ashes, and afterwards casting them at each other. On the following day they again infest the streets, attended by music. Cruel rites are now forbidden.
Every Hindu has a sect mark on his forehead, of white earth, red ochre, sandal-wood, or ashes. The worshippers of Vishnu place the mark per pendicularly, and two perpendicular lines and a dot between denotes a worshipper of Vishnu as Rama or Krishna. The worshippers of Siva mark horizontally. Any conical or triangular mark is symbol of the linga.
One distinouishing mark of the faith of Siva is a crescente'on the forehead. With his ascetic devotees the hair is braided, and forms a tiara round the head, and with its folds a chaplet of the lotus seed is often entwined. They smear the body with ashes, and use garments dyed of an orange hue. They bury their dead in a sitting posture, and erect tumuli over them, which are generally conical in form. Col. Tod says it is not uncommon for priestesses to officiate at the shrincs of Siva. In the south of India, the officiating priests of the Saiva shrines are commonly of the Vira-Saiva, or Jangarn, or Lingaet sect, and are designated Aradhya, also Pandaram.
Siva is represented with his person powdered with the greyish-white ashes of burnt cow-dung, termed Vibhuti, which is consequently used in a similar way by all the Saiva and by many of the Vaishnava ascetics. Part of Siva's scanty raiment is the skin of a,n elephant, or more properly of an Asura or Titan killed by him under that form, and thence named Gajasura. His weapon, the trisula or tri lent, id considered to be in continual motiou over the face of the universe to guard and preserve its creatures. To oppose its course would be to incur imme diate death. Its motion would appear to be regular, but varying according to the slays in the week. Thus it is imagined that it is unlucky to proceed towards the westward on Sundays and Fridays, to the northward on Tuesdays and Wednesday's, to the eastward on Saturdays and Mondays, and to the southward on Thursdaya. Tho trisula or trident symbol of Siva was once used on a copper paisa, weighing UN grains, for circulation in the province of Benares only. Siva, as Mahadeo, is often repre sented sitting on a tiger's skin, with a Nag snake around his head. 111 the different terrific forms of Siva and Durga, a necklace of skulls forms an invariable decoration, as does the crescent or half-moon on the forehead ; and the moon is considered to be the peculiar reservoir of amrita, theb everage of immortality. Agliora-Glianta, invoking Clunnunda, says of Durga, a sakti of Siva— ' The elephant hide that robes thee, to thy steps Swings to and fro ; the whirling talons rend The crescent on thy brow; from the torn orb The trickling nectar falls, find every skull That gems thy necklace laughs with horrid life.' —Cole. .1Igth.; Tod's Rajasthan, i. p. 517; Hind. 'Theat.; Hero and the .Nymph, ii. pp. 59, 195 ; Prinsep's I»dian Antiquities; illoor's Oriental Fragments; itfoor's Hindu Pantheon ; Ferg. and Burg. Care Temples, p. 20 ; Oudh, p. 121.