or of heaven, a man, or a beast. The three little heaps (b) symbolize the Three Jewels of right knowledge, right faith, and right conduct, which enable a man to reach Mokṣa, represented by the sign (c).
When fruit is offered it is noticeable that the Śvetāmbara have no scruple about including fresh fruit in their gift, a thing which the Digambara—the stricter sect—will not allow, considering that by so doing they take life. The evening temple worship of the Śvetāmbara, as of the Digambara, practically consists in Āratī pūjā—waving a lamp before the shrine.
Meritorious as it is to perform the worship in the temples in one’s own town, far more merit is gained by doing so at places of pilgrimage, particularly at special seasons of the year. On great festival days at Ābu, Girnār, and above all Śatruñjaya the temple court is thronged with would-be worshippers, all out-bidding each other for the privilege of performing the various ritual acts, whilst the temple custodians, acting as auctioneers, employ the familiar wiles of the auction room to run up the price. The auctioning is carried on under the phraseology of bidding for ghī (melted butter), and the man who offers the most seers of ghī obtains the coveted privilege. No ghī of course changes hands, the seers being only a conventional phrase for a fixed number of annas.
The present writer saw a man at Śatruñjaya perform the cheapest service—the Sanātana pūjā—for which privilege he had paid only two annas, though at Ābu he would have paid at least five-and-a-quarter. After bathing and donning the two cloths, he marked the idol in fourteen places and filled up time by playing on a harmonium. He then took in one hand a tray containing roses, almonds, rice, saffron and sugar, and in the other a jug containing water and milk, and round the jug and round his wrist he tied a red thread. After performing Dīpa pūjā and Akṣata pūjā, he did what is called Ċamarī pūjā, i.e. gently
