Note 152 — Chapter IV · ANIMAL-WORSHIP.

There are many places in India where fish are protected, such as those at Kota and in the Mahânadî river, the Betwa at Bhilsa, Hardwâr, Mathura, Mirzapur, Benares, Nepâl, and in Afghanistân.152 In the Sâraswata pool in the Himâlaya lived the sacred fish called Mrikunda; they are fed on the fourteenth of the light half of each month, and oblations are offered for the repose of the Manes of deceased relations.153 It is a common custom among pious Hindus to feed fish at sacred places with a lâkh or more of little balls of flour wrapped up in Bhojpatra or birch bark or paper with the name of Râma written upon it. Their eating the name of the deity ensures their salvation, and thus confers religious merit on the giver. The fish is the vehicle of Khwâja Khizr, the water god, and hence has become a sort of totem of the Shiah Musalmâns and the crest of the late royal family of Oudh. Pictures of fish are constantly drawn on the walls of houses as a charm against demoniacal influence.