Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/73

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THE KINGS AND SAGES OF INDIA
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tribes in India, as told by Megasthenes and others. He then proceeds on the authority of Megasthenes to describe the Hindu philosophers and their remarkable powers of asceticism.

THE DILWARA TEMPLE AT MOUNT ABU.

'Speaking of the philosophers, Megasthenes says that those who inhabit the mountains are worshippers of Dionysos (Bacchus), and show as a proof (of the god having come among them) the wild vine, which grows only in their country, the ivy, the laurel, the myrtle, the box-tree, and other evergreens, none of which are found beyond the Euphrates, except a few in parks, which are preserved only with great care. Other Bacchanalian customs are the wearing of robes and turbans, the use of perfumes, dressing in dyed and flowered garments, and for their kings to be preceded by gongs

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