Every city of India has its temples by the hundreds, in some cases by the thousands. On all the hills, in all the valleys, scattered over all the fields, in the densest jungles or open plains are temples, shrines and idols. The rivers are sacred, trees are worshiped and very many animals receive religious reverence. The temple-courts are filled with chattering monkeys, and here and there we see the sacred bulls, garlanded with flowers and fed by the devotees. There is no end, seemingly, to their temples and idols. Probably no country in the world has more of these than India. It is one of the marks of heathenism to multiply the objects and places of worship. Of course, we cannot here make mention of all these, we can but describe a few of the more important, which may serve as specimens of the rest. IDOLS AND TEMPLES OF JUGGERNAUT. Juggernaut is a celebrated god. He is called the “Lord of the world.” His images are as ugly as can be conceived. Generally they are made of wood; in some temples placed three together, one of blue, one of white and one of yellow. Juggernaut has many temples; the one at Puri, on the western shore of the Bay of Bengal, being the largest, and esteemed the most holy. This pagoda stands at the end of the principal street of the city, which is very wide, and lined with dwellings for the priests, small shrines and other sacred buildings. The wall which surrounds the temple is 21 feet high, and forms an inclosure 650 feet on each side. The principal edifice rises to the height of 184 feet. The main gate-way is crowded with Fakirs. On each side of the entrance is a mammoth lion. Just before the visitor, as he enters, is an image of the monkey-god, Hanuman. [Illustration: THE MOST SACRED TEMPLE OF JUGGERNAUT AT PURI.] The temple is dedicated to Krishna, or Juggernaut, (sometimes written Jagan-nath,) and his companions--Siva and Sathadra. The idols of each are rude, hideous-looking sculptured blocks of wood, each about six feet high. The representations of the human face in these idols are hideous. Krishna is painted dark blue, Siva white and Sathadra yellow. Before the altar an image of the hawk-god, Garounda, is placed. Every day, we are told, the idols are feasted. Their food consists of 410 pounds of rice, 225 pounds of flour, 350 pounds of butter, 167 pounds of treacle, 65 pounds of vegetables, 186 pounds of milk, 24 pounds of spices, 34 pounds of salt and 41 pounds of oil. While the food is being placed before the gods, all but a favored few are excluded from the temple, and the doors are shut. There are over 20,000 holy men connected with this temple, and we can easily guess that _they_ help the idols to get rid of this great mass of food, at any rate it all speedily disappears. The idols, strange as it may seem, are washed and dressed daily with great seriousness. [Illustration: H. Melville, Painter. Illman Brothers, Engravers & Printers. THE HINDU MOTHER. ENGRAVED EXPRESSLY FOR ERROR’S CHAINS]