The Hindu Pantheon

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It having fallen to my lot to visit, in very early life, the extra ordinary people whose Mythology I here endeavour to explain, and to remain among them, in situations frequently favourable to the acquisition of information, until lately, I take the liberty of offering to the Public this Work, the result of my observations and inquiries.

During an intercourse of many years, with natives of almost every description, I often, in conversation on interesting topics, found myself at a loss in comprehending certain terms and allusions, and in seeking what I required; and frequently experienced the utility of pictures and visible objects in directing me in both: hence I began to collect pictures and images, which in the progress of years, without being particularly valuable as a selection, have accumulated to a considerable extent.

Conceiving that the possession of such objects may be of similar use in guiding the inquirer to sources of information that might not otherwise offer, and be agreeable at the same time to those in search of amusement chiefly, I have caused many of those subjects to be accurately copied, and engraved by hands eminent in their respective lines. The greatest attention has been paid by the ingenious artist (Mr. HAUGHTON of the Royal Academy) in taking the portraits of the images and the drawings of the pictures for my plates; which may be relied on as faithful representations of the original subjects; and will, I hope, be deemed curious in them- selves, as well as possessing, in many instances, a highly creditable portion of elegance in their execution. Hindu artists being more skillful in metallurgy than in perspective, I farther indulge the hope, that in the latter line my Work may, if haply introduced among them, be ultimately of utility in contributing to their improvement; nor, perhaps, will even the amateur or artist of Europe easily find more graceful models of outline than some of my plates will afford him.

Edward Moor (1771-1848) was a British soldier and Indologist, known for his book The Hindu Pantheon, an early treatment in English of Hinduism as a religion.

He was a soldier for the East India Company. joining in 1782 as a cadet. He became a brevet-captain in 1796, having been wounded in 1791 at Dooridroog, a hill fort near Bangalore, and Gadjnoor (not Doridroog and Gadjmoor, as stated in the Dictionary of National Biography). He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1806.

He married Elizabeth Lynn on 10 July 1794. She died on 13 December 1835 and was buried in the churchyard at Great Bealings on 19 December 1835.

He retired to Bealings House, Great Bealings, Suffolk in 1806. His son, Canon Edward James Moor (1800-1866) was Rector of Great Bealings from 1844 to 1886. He died in at the house of his son-in-law, William Page Wood, in Westminster on 26 February 1848 and was buried in the churchyard at Great Bealings on 4 March 1848.

Bealings Bells While Major Moor lived in Great Bealings he experienced what he believed was a ghostly ringing of the servants' bells in the house. This began on 2 February 1834 and was alleged to have lasted fifty-three days. He described his experiences in the book Bealings Bells, published in 1841.

The mysterious bell ringing was sensationalised by paranormal writers as evidence for poltergeist activity. However, the case was critically examined by Trevor H. Hall who concluded that Moor was not a reliable witness and had been duped by one of his servants playing a practical joke. Other writers have suggested that Moor was responsible for the bell ringing and the entire case was a hoax. Author Daniel Cohen wrote that there was "more than a suspicion" that Moor had played a joke on everyone and his book "may have been conceived as a gentle satire on investigations of other odd phenomena."

**Contents and Sample Pages**