Juggernaut

(jūg-gr-nawt',) a town of India, British pres. of Bengal, p. Ori a, 260 m. S.W. of Calcutta. It is a place sacred to Hindoo pilgrims, and contains a famous temple dedicated to the god Vishnu, erected in 1198, and annually resorted to by hundreds of you sands of devotees. Crowds of these fanatic worshippers during the high festival held in honor of the god, fling themselves beneath the wheels of the car which bears the grand idol from the temple to the pavilion devoted to him, about a mile distant. It is believed that since the introduction of this rite, which is greatly abating in our days, millions of human beings have voluntarily perished in honor of their wooden deity with the golden arms and diamond eyes. [s. 509]