Page:Picturesque Nepal.djvu/287

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A STATUE OF NARAIN
181

without fear, although the monster face, with red dripping jaws, seems to be reaching out to devour their delicate bronze limbs. Their garments lie about, bright splashes of colour on the cool damp grass, the falling water bubbles and gurgles, little rills percolate from all sources, and the happy babbling song of the stream is heard dreamily issuing from everywhere.

It is hardly necessary to add that Balaji has its religious significance, and for this one must look into a small tank at the side and overhung with trees, near a temple decorated with Tantric carvings. Reclining full length in this receptacle, with all but the face submerged, is a carved stone figure of Narain, framed with a hood of snakes' heads projecting from the surface of the water. The statue of this deity is about ten feet long, and lies on a stone bed, the head and arms pillowed on stone cushions, all, with the exception of the features, being covered by the gently flowing crystal stream, the steady ripple of which suggests in a remarkable manner the movement of breathing. Small fish dart about,