SAIVA-SIDDHANTA

"
Oh
SRI PARVATAM.
Yes! when I reach the Alps , he hath said to me
I
always pray. He would betake himself to some quiet corner,
among that grand scenery, and fall on his knees. He was praising
God in the work of His creation, the Alps, and bowed in simple
praise of it."
^
This is what is reported of the saintly Ruskin, and the noble
feeling given
expression to above, clearly explains the wic)e-spread
system of worship obtaining among the Hindus, We refer, of
course, to the system of setting up places of worship to the Most
High on the highest mountain- peaks and most magnificent
hills.
And the more inaccessible and difficult of reach these hills are, the
more sacred do they become in the eyes of the people. And there
can be no possible doubt that some of these pilgrimages call forth
no small amount of endurance, toil, patience and expense,
which the people will never show, unless they are animated by
an equal amount of fervid piety. There can be no doubt whatever
also about the elevating influence of Nature in her grandest
and magnificent aspects. The sense of elevation and freedom,
purity and beauty, awe and reverence, one feels when one reaches
one of these mountain-tops must be felt and not told, c yei
writers have holden forth about the
marvels of a sunrise or sunset
on Mount Blanc or on the Himalayas, and one cannot but cry
out at such sights from his heart of hearts.
* A friend of ours mentioned to us how the picture at Tiruvarmamalai,
with the setting sur^ the flaming hill top and myriad lights, called to
him at once these lines. Yogis have a different explanation of the triple
light