ACME OF PURITY

Hokitika Guardian, 15 September 1931, Page 6

ACME OF PURITY

GANDHI’S' HINDU COMPANION. BOMBAY, September 4. Pandit Madam Mohan Malaviya, who is accompanying Gandhi to London and is an extremely orthodox Hindu, is crossing the seas for the first time in his life, and will take with him half a dozen brass vessels filled with water from the holy River Ganges.

| The holy water will be sprinkled on everything the> Pandit is likely to use. ! An advance; consignment is already on its way to/ London for sprinkling all over. Arya Bhuvan London, where the | Pandit will stay. The Ganges water will be liberally used in this purifying process particularly in his living apartments, and in the kitchen, where his food will be prepared by a Brahmin cook he is taking with him from India. The orthodox cook is an absolute necessity for the Pandit from the moment he boards the steamer, because he would not touch any food cooked by anybody else on hoard.

When the Pandit was sent to gaol during the civl disobedience movement last year, he was given a cook of his ow T n choice for preparing his food inside the gaol. On release from gaol, the Pandit went through an elaborate ceremonial of purification, with the aid of Brahmin priests. He will, of course, go through this ceremonial again when he returns from London.