Though colour counts for much in an Indian garden, perfume counts for more. Flowers are not picked unless they are an 'acceptable,' i.e. sweet-smelling, offering to the gods. If used for decorative purposes, an offering of some of them is first made. This same religious senti ment is also carried out in other ways: a gift of jewelry or rich clothing to a child or to a bride or bridegroom being dedicated, as it were, in a temple before its presentation. A favourite temple offering is a bed of flowers under a little arbour or 'house of flowers.' The bed is made of sweet-scented petals strewn on a sheet, over the petals a fine muslin cloth is spread, and this is then considered 'a bed fit for the gods.' Un-scented flowers may from time to time be placed in private rooms just to look at for the pleasure of their colours-probably with the idea of following a Moslem or English custom; but if scented flowers were gathered for this purpose and used without any previous offering, the Hindu idea would be that the flowers had sinned.
To inhale a scented leaf on waking in the morning is thought to restore freshness and health-surely a pleasanter prescription would be hard to find.
