-
Articles/Ads
Article ON THE STUDY OF MASONIC ANTIQUITIES. Page 1 of 16 →
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
ON THE STUDY OF MASONIC ANTIQUITIES .
BY BRO . THOMAS PRYER , W . M . OF THE OAK LODGE , S . G . 1 . G . 33 ° . CHAPTER VI . ROCK-CUT TEMPLES OF INDIA—REFLECTIONS ON THEIR MODE OF CONSTRUCTION THEIR PURPOSES—ORIGIN OF CAVERN-WORSHIP ANCIENT PRINCIPLES OF BELIEF MODERN PERVERSION THE VEDAS—INDIAN
TRIAD BRAHMA —VISHNU SIVA—THEIR REFERENCES—HINDOO PANTHEISM ANALOGIES BETWEEN THE RITES AND SYMBOLS OF ANCIENT EGYPT AND INDIA—THE LOTOS APIS AND NUNDI—ADORATION OF THE SETTING SUN RITES OF INITIATION INTO THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES OF INDIA—REMARKS ON THE PROMULGATION OF FREEMASONRY AMONG THE INHABITANTS OF INDIA . DEPARTING from the valley of the Nileand proceeding with the
, speculative part of the subject , in the manner indicated in the third chapter , our attention will be next directed to the country of the Ganges . The religion and rites of initiation into the mysteries of ANCIENT INDIA are , in their associations , inseparably interwoven with her rock-cut temples These temples , in their solitary grandeur , remain , magnificent memorials of the past , deserted by all present religious sects , though bearing references and symbols connected with an existing system of religious
belief . They are thus of peculiar interest , presenting links connecting the present with the past in a manner far different from that of any other of the temples dedicated to the purposes of ancient worship ; and as they disclose undisturbed vestiges of their primitive uses , and carry us back to those periods of remote antiquity to which our researches must necessarily extend , I purpose commencing this part of the subject
by some reflections on their peculiar mode of construction ; for , whether regarded as triumphs of operative skill , or as indicative of that energetic spirit of devotion which sought to perpetuate its belief in forms defying the ravages of time , and which ages should fail to obliterate , they cannot fail to excite our wonder and admiration . These marvellous temples , hewn from the solid rock , present for contemplation grand sentiments of eternity ! In their construction mind has triumphed over matter—man ' s
inventive genius has contended with chaos ; and in converting the sterile rock into forms of beauty , the adamantine slumber of ages has been broken , and by human skill the dormant porphyry has awakened into expressive life . And there the results remain with vivid freshness , though numberless ages have rolled by since the persevering chisel of the ancient craftsman reduced the shapeless mass into undying form , and invested it with imperishable images , at once magnificent and symmetrical ,
The world has grown old since the rock resounded with the workman ' s gavel , and yet his sculptures still remain fresh and distinct , affording no indication of ruin or decay . Firm and immoveable in their native majesty , these venerable temples seem to display an existence expressive of eternal duration , as though their forms had been impressed upon the native rock from the beginning ; thus appearing , in fact , to manifest a mode of construction at once undisturbed and undecuyiny , and totally distinguished from the perishable productions of artificial design . VOL . v . ; i F
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On The Study Of Masonic Antiquities.
ON THE STUDY OF MASONIC ANTIQUITIES .
BY BRO . THOMAS PRYER , W . M . OF THE OAK LODGE , S . G . 1 . G . 33 ° . CHAPTER VI . ROCK-CUT TEMPLES OF INDIA—REFLECTIONS ON THEIR MODE OF CONSTRUCTION THEIR PURPOSES—ORIGIN OF CAVERN-WORSHIP ANCIENT PRINCIPLES OF BELIEF MODERN PERVERSION THE VEDAS—INDIAN
TRIAD BRAHMA —VISHNU SIVA—THEIR REFERENCES—HINDOO PANTHEISM ANALOGIES BETWEEN THE RITES AND SYMBOLS OF ANCIENT EGYPT AND INDIA—THE LOTOS APIS AND NUNDI—ADORATION OF THE SETTING SUN RITES OF INITIATION INTO THE ANCIENT MYSTERIES OF INDIA—REMARKS ON THE PROMULGATION OF FREEMASONRY AMONG THE INHABITANTS OF INDIA . DEPARTING from the valley of the Nileand proceeding with the
, speculative part of the subject , in the manner indicated in the third chapter , our attention will be next directed to the country of the Ganges . The religion and rites of initiation into the mysteries of ANCIENT INDIA are , in their associations , inseparably interwoven with her rock-cut temples These temples , in their solitary grandeur , remain , magnificent memorials of the past , deserted by all present religious sects , though bearing references and symbols connected with an existing system of religious
belief . They are thus of peculiar interest , presenting links connecting the present with the past in a manner far different from that of any other of the temples dedicated to the purposes of ancient worship ; and as they disclose undisturbed vestiges of their primitive uses , and carry us back to those periods of remote antiquity to which our researches must necessarily extend , I purpose commencing this part of the subject
by some reflections on their peculiar mode of construction ; for , whether regarded as triumphs of operative skill , or as indicative of that energetic spirit of devotion which sought to perpetuate its belief in forms defying the ravages of time , and which ages should fail to obliterate , they cannot fail to excite our wonder and admiration . These marvellous temples , hewn from the solid rock , present for contemplation grand sentiments of eternity ! In their construction mind has triumphed over matter—man ' s
inventive genius has contended with chaos ; and in converting the sterile rock into forms of beauty , the adamantine slumber of ages has been broken , and by human skill the dormant porphyry has awakened into expressive life . And there the results remain with vivid freshness , though numberless ages have rolled by since the persevering chisel of the ancient craftsman reduced the shapeless mass into undying form , and invested it with imperishable images , at once magnificent and symmetrical ,
The world has grown old since the rock resounded with the workman ' s gavel , and yet his sculptures still remain fresh and distinct , affording no indication of ruin or decay . Firm and immoveable in their native majesty , these venerable temples seem to display an existence expressive of eternal duration , as though their forms had been impressed upon the native rock from the beginning ; thus appearing , in fact , to manifest a mode of construction at once undisturbed and undecuyiny , and totally distinguished from the perishable productions of artificial design . VOL . v . ; i F