A Heathen Service by G. G. Lowry

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 16, 1915

A Heathen Service

By G. G. Lowry

G. G. LOWRY

Not long ago I saw something in a village in the southern part of India that brought very forcibly to my mind the text, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” It was about the middle of May, the hottest part of the year in this country. The village is about three quarters of a mile from our home, and is a very dark heathen place. I had been holding some gospel meetings under a large banyan tree in the center of the village, and had been telling the people of the great and powerful God, who created the heavens and the earth, and of his Son Jesus Christ, who had come to this world and died that we might all be saved in the eternal kingdom of God.

At the close of one of the meetings an old man came up to me and said: “Sir, you tell of your God and the wonderful things that he has done. I want you to attend the great festival that is to be held within a few days, in this very place, in honor of the goddess Kali, and see what the god that we worship is able to do.”

On inquiry I learned that this service is held only once in three years, and that about three months before the service is to be held the goddess appears to the one whom she wishes to be master of ceremonies on that particular occasion. From the time the goddess makes her appearance until the festival is over, the man to whom she appears seems to be possessed of some supernatural power, which enables him to do some very extraordinary things. While under this influence, things that he may prophesy will certainly come to pass. A blessing or a curse that he may pronounce upon a person will most surely affect the person either for good or bad. Consequently the people are always very much afraid of the man upon whom the goddess has descended, and for this reason they worship him, and make large gifts of money, jewelry, goats, sheep, hogs, etc. Those who are sick, or troubled in any way, and wish to be relieved and blessed, come to this festival prepared to make an offering in accordance with the blessing which they expect to receive.

All this information, and much more which the people were anxious to give me, interested me, and I determined to attend the festival and see the man whom the people feared and reverenced so much.

The appointed day finally came, and I with others went to see the performance. Long before we reached the place, we could hear the shouts of the people, and the loud weird blasts of the trumpets that are used on such occasions. As we drew near, we saw thousands who had come from numerous villages round about, gathered around a small Hindu temple in the center of the town. The police, who were there to watch the ceremonies and to keep order, came out to meet us, and clearing a path through the vast crowds, escorted us to some seats near the center, where the offerings were being received, and where the principal part of the service was to be held.

There were a number of priests engaged in receiving the offerings of the worshipers. They had a fire burning, before which the offerings were made:

and as the priest made the offering, he mumbled a prayer to the gods.

While this was going on, twelve or fifteen men, with no clothing except a narrow strip of cloth around their loins and a string of small bells on their feet, with clubs and spears in their hands, were wildly dancing with all their might around the man upon whom the goddess Kali was supposed to be resting. The man himself was a very ordinary-looking man, tall and slender, with peaked face, sunken eyes, and head shorn, all but a small tuft of hair in the middle. He had a wild, excited look on his face, and seemed very nervous. Now and then as the men danced around him, a goat was brought into the center of the ring, and with one stroke of a large knife, its head was cut off, the blood caught in an earthen pot, and given to the man to drink. The body of the goat was then offered to the gods. To me this was revolting and terrible; but the people looked on with great satisfaction, believing that this was one more sign that the man was really possessed by the deity.

They told me that this was not all that he would do, however, and I soon found that it was not indeed. The principal part of the service was to be held at noon, and they now began to prepare for it. They had a scaffold eight feet long, six feet wide, and six feet high constructed near the middle of the ring. All the time the scaffold was being arranged, people who were there for some special blessing were wildly dancing and shouting, to the beat of the drum and the blast of the trumpets.

When the platform was finally completed, four live goats were put upon it, upon their backs, their feet tied down firmly to the floor, with their heads hanging over the edge next to us. A man then climbed up, with a huge crooked knife, sat down astride the goats, one at a time, and with the knife, one end in each hand, started in just at the top of the breastbone and cut a great gash in each goat. The blood flew in all directions, and the sight of it seemed fairly to enrage the man who was supposed to be possessed. Several men were detailed to hold him, which they did with great difficulty. The muscles of his body writhed and twisted, and his eyes and face presented an agonized appearance. Finally he was permitted to climb up on the scaffold, and immediately he began greedily to devour the blood of the goats, dipping it up with both hands, smearing it over his face and body, and eating great quantities of it. Bananas were also cut into small bits, mixed with the blood, and given him to eat. During the thirty minutes or more that this was going on, the expression on his face was too terrible for description. After eating until he could eat no more, he fell exhausted into the hands of his worshipers, who carried him away to the small temple, and we saw him no more.

It was a terrible sight, at which some of the natives themselves fainted and had to be carried away. Upon inquiry as to why the man ate the blood in this way, I was told that the goddess Kali is very fond of blood, and that the people took this means of satisfying her. They said if they did not do this, the goddess would get angry with her devotees, and in revenge would kill and eat their children. So it is from fear of her, and not because they love her, that they serve her in this way.

How it must pain the great heart of God as he looks down upon thousands of villages in dark India where such things are going on in the name of religion, and sees the poor benighted people wandering like sheep without a shepherd, in the terrible darkness of Hinduism. How different would be the scene if the people of that village, and of thousands of other villages like it in India, were only Christians! What a contrast between the strange, weird, lonesome sound of the trumpets used on such occasions, and the sweet tones of Christian church bells which call the followers of King Jesus to worship. It is to bring the glad news of salvation, the story of a loving Heavenly Father, the gospel of freedom from the chains of superstition, ignorance, and idolatry, that we are called upon to work in India, and that you are called upon for support by your money and your prayers. May God help us all to do our duty to our brothers and sisters in this dark land.

Coimbatore, South India.