This list might be almost indefinitely enlarged. From the number of her names, it is evident she is largely worshipped in North India; and from the number of Hindus bearing one or other of her names, it is certain she is most popular. It is a common custom for the Hindus to give their children names indicating the god or goddess through whose favour they are believed to have been given, and Durga seems to have had a part in the bestowal of a very large proportion of the children in Bengal. "By the favour of Kali, or Durga, or Tara," is expressed in the names of multitudes, and every day witnesses the payment of vows made to this goddess when some desired good is granted, or threatened evil averted.

THE SAKTIS.

Although a full account of the three chief goddesses, Sarasvati, Lakshmi, and Parvati, has already been given, there still remains something to be said in order to indicate the position they occupy in the Pantheon. By far the greater part of the Hindus in Bengal, and a

considerable number in other provinces, devote their chief, almost their exclusive worship to the wives of the gods rather than to their husbands; and by these people they are declared to be the source and support of all things. Of the three, Parvati, chiefly in her more dreadful forms, is by far the most popular. Comparatively few assign to the other two a similarly exalted position.

All the Hindus acknowledge the consorts of the gods in a general way, and on the days commonly devoted to their worship are careful to present the customary offerings. But the sects now under consideration are not content with this. As the goddesses fill their field of vision, their husbands are almost entirely neglected. Originally the term Sakti signified the energy, or power of a deity. In process of time this energy was supposed to dwell in the wife, and as a result the devotion of the worshippers was transferred to her. And for many centuries a special name has been given to those who pay their supreme worship to the energy of the gods that are, so to speak, incarnated in their wives. These are known as Saktas, just as those who make Siva their chief object of adoration are Saivites; or those who regard Vishnu as the supreme are Vaishnavas.

There is a respectable and recognized cult of Sakti worship, known as the right-handed; and there is one that is quite the opposite, known as the left-handed. The rites and ceremonies in the one case are openly performed, and do not greatly differ from those in common with other Hindu sects. But amongst the left-handed sects the greatest care is taken to keep secret, from the uninitiated, the doctrines and practices that regulate and form their worship. But enough is known to make the members generally ashamed of their