Note 93 — Chapter IV · THE WORSHIP OF THE SAINTED DEAD.

The reputation, again, of many shrines rests on the assumed discovery, generally by means of a dream, that an ancient image or the bones of a martyr were buried on the spot, and in their honour a shrine was established. Thus, the great temple at Bandakpur in the Damoh District owes its origin to the fact that a Pandit in 1781 A.D. dreamed a dream, that in a certain spot lay buried in the earth an image of Jagîswar Mahâdeva, and that if he built a suitable temple over the place indicated, the image would make its appearance. On the strength of this dream the Pandit built a temple, and it is asserted that in due course of time the image developed itself without the aid of man.93 So, the Bhairava temple on the Langûr peak owes its establishment to a cowherd having found on the spot a yellow-coloured stick, which on his attempting to cut it with an axe, poured out drops of blood. Frightened at the sight, the cowherd fled, only to be visited at night by the god in his terrible form, who commanded him to set up his shrine here. A similar legend is attached to the Nârâyana image in Nepâl.94 The celebrated shrine of Hanumân at Beguthiya was discovered by a wandering ascetic,95 and a Gûjar cowboy is said not very long ago to have found in one of the Sahâranpur jungles the image of the goddess Sâkambarî Devî, which now attracts large numbers of worshippers. The Mahârâja of Balrâmpur some time ago noticed a rude shrine of Bijleswarî Devî, the goddess of lightning, and remarked that he would build a handsome temple in honour of her, were it not for the sacred banyan tree which shaded it and prevented the erection of the spire to the proper height. That very night the tree was uprooted by a hurricane, and a handsome temple was erected, this manifestation of her power having made the goddess more popular than ever.96