The Grand Conclave.

THE GRAND CONCLAVE .

We are authorised to contradict a statement made by two correspondents in our MA . GA . ZHTE last week , that the use of the Temple for the purposes of the Grand Conclave on the 6 th inst . was refused by the Board of General Purposes . We are assured that not only was

the subject not brought under the consideration of the Board , but that the Temple was never applied for , the only application being for the use of the hall and the organ , made through the proprietors of the Tavern in the usual way , and which was granted without reference to the Board .

The Brahmins And Royal Archmasonry.

THE BRAHMINS AND ROYAL ARCHMASONRY .

A correspondent "E . W . S . " who is making some researches into the history of Freemasonry , notes on which he obligingly promises to forward to the FEEEAIASO ] S ~ S' MA . G-A . ZQTE from time to time , has kindly favoured us with the following "NOTE OJT THE SVI JA : STI . A . ASS K . HA . T ELHOX CHAVVRA . ( SIX AN & LEII

WHEEL ) , or . DOUBLE E ' . * . XEEAL TBIAIS GEE ; read at the Asiatic Society by E . C . RAVENSHAW , ESQ ., late of the Bengal Civil Service , June 16 th , 1849 , " which , as it is probably new to the large majority of our readers , we have great pleasure in laying before them , believing that

anything which tends to throw light upon those ancient customs upon which our order is founded must ever prove of interest to the reflective Mason . In presenting to thc Royal Asiatic Society the accompanying two specimens , in crystal , of the Svi Jantra , it will be

proper to afford some explanation how they came into my hands ; of the use to which they are applied by the Hindoos ; and of the meaning and apparently great antiquity of the mysterious symbol of the double equilateral triangle . The Janti-as were brought to me about two years ago when I was residing at Patna , by an itinerant vendor of Hindu images , salagriims ancl other religious curiosities from Benares . The man informed me that they were made of crystal ,

brought from the neighbourhood of Jeypoor . He had a great number of them of various sizes ; for the larger ones ae demanded 30 , ' 40 , and 50 rupees ( that is £ ' 3 , £ 4 , aud £ 5 ) . He could afford me little other information regarding them Shan that they were objects of religious reverenc e among - "heHindus . Never having seen or heard of Svi Jantra before , and being struck with the identity of the symbol with ¦ _ l _ e decoration of the Eoyal Arch in . Freemasonry , I sent

for a Brahmin to expound the mystery . He informed me that an explanation of it would be found in the Mantra Malwdadhi and the Sarada Tilah ; but as he had not a copy of either of those works in his possession , I requested him to give me the substance viva voce . It appeared from his narrative that that the Svi Jantra is a sort of pocket altar , on which worship may be offered to any Deity ; and

according to the name of the Deity it is called " Durga Jantra , " " Siva Jantra , " & c . Each of the six angles of the hexagon represents a point of tbe compass , and is named after the three principal gods of the Hindu Pantheon , Brahma , Siva , and Vishnu , and their respective saktis or wives Saraswati , Parvati , and Lakshmi ( vide Fig . 1 . ) The centre of the middle triangle , on the summit of tbe conical crystal , is

called the " Karnika , " ancl on this spot , either the image , or the name of the deity to be worshipped , must be placed ; . the angle dedicated to Brahma is then placed to the east , and the ceremonies of devotion proceeded with . Fig . 3 will

give an idea of the elevation or general appearance of the Jantra . It is intended to represent the flower of the lotus , with tbe petals turned back . It will be remarked that immediately below the triangle there are two rows of petals , one constantly eight , the other sixteen leaves , called " Hasht dal" and " Shoras dal . " * The number of dais or petals varies hi each Jantra , according to tbe Deity to be worshi

pped , and each petal has a separate name . The cone , thus formed , rests upon a square base which represents the earth and is called "Bhii-pur , " or " city of the earth . " It is not improbable that the cone is meant to represent the heavens resting upon the earth ; but the Brahmin did not give such an explanation of it . In the Sabasan worship of China , Sir J . Davis ( p . 70 , vol . ii . ) states that , the altar-of sacrifice to heaven is round to represent the sky , and that

of the earth square ; the Jantra appears to combine the two . In the valley of Nepal , near Kathmandu , there is a large hemispherical solid building , called " Sambhunatb , " consecrated to "Adi Buddha ; " an engraving of which is given in Kirkpatrick's work on Nepal . The form is very similar to that of the Jantra , but on the summit rises a pagoda with seven storiesrepresenting the seven heavens ( vide Fig . 8 . )

, The other Jantra is devoted entirely to the second person of the Hindu Trinity , "' Sheo" or " Siva , " aud is therefore called " Siva Jantra . " Figs . 4 aud 5 will convey to those who have not had an opportunity of inspecting the original , some idea of its form , and the disposition of its triangles . It will be observed that the triangles are not in a state of union as in the first Jantra , but there are six equilateral