Thread by @HindooHistory

The Washington Times, 1928

"She's a Hindu, Now"

"With all the elaborate ceremonies of the Oriental race, Nancy Ann Miller, Seattle, Wash., girl today became a convert to Hinduism in Bombay, preparatory to her marriage Saturday to the former Maharajah of Indore"

#HindooHistory

"15,000 SEE U.S. GIRL SWEAR FEALTY TO HINDOOISM"

"With the crimson mark of her caste upon her forehead, miss Nancy Ann Miller of Seattle, Wash., American fiancé of Tukojirao Holkar, former Maharajah of Indore, stood upon the bank of the sacred river Godavri near Nashik Today..."

"and renounced Christianity so that she can marry the Hindu prince. The first half of the ceremonies during the morning were semi-private, but 15,000 persons witnessed the conclusion of the rites in the afternoon..."

"which were conducted with impressive and picturesque ceremonies by the Hindu ritual priests. Miss Miller is the second American woman in all history to renounce Christianity for the Hindoo faith"

"The American girl had been tutored in the rites of conversion, but she showed the strain under which she has been laboring while rival priestly factions fought over the advisability of admitting her to Hindooism"

"A priest inscribed the convert's brow with a sacred mark after which she lighted the ceremonial fire with splinters from a sacred bough. afterward Miss Miller bathed in the sacred waters of the Godavri."

"The red 'Kumkuma' which the priest marked upon her forehead admitter her to the 'holy ranks of Indian womanhood.' Miss Miller took a sacred oath renouncing Christianity and pledging herself to Hindooism for the remainder of her life"

"The ceremonies occupied an hour and a half and were performed semi-privately in the view of officiating priests and a few privileged spectators including an English woman who afterward described Miss Miller's appearance as 'very sad.'"

"The final ceremonies were put over until later today. Six years ago there was no recognized conversion to the Hindoo faith, but owing to the Moplah riots of 1921 and 1922, in which thousands of Hindoos in India were forcibly converted to Islam..."

"the pride of the Orthodox Hindoo priests gave way to the exigencies of the times. With the consent of the high priests throughout India, a new recognized form of conversion, called the Suddhi ceremony, was settled upon and a definite ritual fixed"

"The first American girl to be converted to the Hindoo faith subsequently married Dr. Ketgar, Ph.D., of Poona. It was necessary for Miss Miller to go through a 'purification ceremony' before the rites of conversion began"

"She was compelled to live on a fruit diet for three days. Part of the ceremony consisted of tasting the sacred food, a mixture of milk, curds, clarified butter, honey and sugar. This was called the 'pancha-gavya.'"

"A Hindoo name was selected for the convert by the priests after the ceremony of writing her name with a diamond in the grains of rice laid upon a golden platter. The Hindoo marriage ceremony, which will follow later, is unusually impressive"