Part 6

After having bathed in the river, the widow lighted a brand, walked round the pile, set it on fire, and then mounted cheerfully: the flame caught and blazed up instantly; she sat down, placing the head of the corpse on her lap, and repeated several times the usual form, “_Ram, Ram, sātī; Ram, Ram, sātī_;” _i.e._ “God, God, I am chaste.” As the wind drove the fierce fire upon her, she shook her arms and limbs as if in agony; at length she started up, and approached the side to escape. An Hindū—one of the police who had been placed near the pile to see that she had fair play, and should not be burned by force—raised his sword to strike her, and the poor wretch shrank back into the flames. The magistrate seized and committed him to prison. The woman again approached the side of the blazing pile, sprang fairly out, and ran into the Ganges, which was within a few yards. When the crowd and the brothers of the dead man saw this, they called out, “Cut her down! knock her on the head with a bamboo! tie her hands and feet, and throw her in again!” They rushed down to execute their murderous intentions, when some English gentlemen and the police drove them back. The woman drank some water, and having extinguished the fire on her red garment, said she would mount the pile again and be burned. The magistrate placed his hand upon her shoulder (which rendered her impure), and said, “By your own law, having once quitted the pile, you cannot ascend again; I forbid it.” He sent her in a palanquin, under a guard, to the hospital. The crowd made way, shrinking from her with signs of horror, but returned peacefully to their homes; the Hindūs annoyed at her escape, the Musalmāns, saying, “It was better that she should escape, but it was a pity we should have lost the _tamāshā_ (amusement) of seeing her burnt to death.” The woman said, “I have transmigrated six times, and have been burned six times with six different husbands; if I do not burn the seventh time, it will prove unlucky for me!” “What good will burning do you?” asked a bystander: she replied, “The women of my husband’s family have all been _satīs_: why should I bring disgrace upon them? I shall go to heaven, and afterwards re-appear on earth, and be married to a very rich man.”

The woman was about 25 years of age, and possessed some property: had she performed _satī_, her relatives would have raised a little cenotaph, or a mound of earth, by the side of the river; and every Hindū who passed the place returning from bathing, would have made _salām_ to it—a high honour to the family. The _shastrs_ say, “There is no greater virtue than a chaste woman burning herself with her husband.” Mothers collect the cowries, strewn by a satī as she walks round the pile, ere she fires it, and hang them round the necks of their sick children, as a cure for disease.

The woman became an outcast: her own and her husband’s family would lose caste, if they were to speak to her; no Hindū will eat with her, enter her house, or give her assistance; and when she appears, they will point at her, and give her abuse. Many years after this event took place, the woman regained caste by giving large feasts and donations to the Brahmans.

In the Museum are five _kalsas_, or crowns of unglazed pottery, some of which formerly decorated the _satī_ mounds in Alopee Bagh, near Allahabad, and the rest were brought from Ghazipūr. There are also two black stones, apparently very ancient, on which figures are carved, brought from the _satī_ mound of the widow of a Brahman, at Barrah.

About two years after this event at Allahabad, the practice of _satī_ was abolished, by order of government.

The fine building here represented is a _dhrum-sala_, or place to distribute alms, at Benī Māhadēo Ghāt; it is dedicated to a form of Māhadēo, which stands in the _shiwālā_, or little temple above. Under the arches in the lower part, by the side of the Ganges, is an enormous figure of Ganesh; the worshippers pour oil and Ganges water over the image, with rice and flowers, and hang chaplets of flowers around its neck: the idol is generally dripping with oil. The red flag, at the end of a long bamboo displayed from the _pīpul_ tree, denotes the residence of a _Fakīr_. The temple is very picturesque, and the foliage adds to the beauty of the scene.

SULTAN KHUSRŪ’S MAUSOLEUM.

The _sarā’e_, or caravansary, at Allahabad, built by Sultan Khusrū, is a noble one, and the gateway through which you pass to the _bāghīcha_, or garden bearing his name, is very fine. The garden is a large space of ground, enclosed by a high wall, containing three tombs and a _baithakhāna_, or pavilion. These palace-like tombs, amongst which is that of Sultan Khusrū’s, are splendid mausoleums. Tho first and largest monument is that of the Sultan, in which he is buried; it is a handsome building, and within it is deposited a beautifully-illuminated kurān. Sultan Khusrū married a daughter of the Wuzeer Azim Khan; he was the son of Jehāngīr, and his mother was the daughter of the Rajpūt Prince Bagwandas, of Amber. The other monuments are those of Noorjahān and the Jodh Bā’ī; the fourth building is a pavilion, in which visitors are allowed to live for a short time, during a visit to the garden. Around the tombs are some of the finest and most beautiful tamarind-trees. These trees, called by the natives _imlī_, are generally found around or sheltering the tombs of revered or sacred characters. The natives are impressed with a notion that it is dangerous to sleep under the tamarind-tree, especially during the night.

Just beyond the gates of the _sarā’e_, is a _bāolī_, a magnificent well, with underground apartments; it is a most remarkable and curious place, and the well is a noble one.

A company of pilgrims, carriers of holy water, are _en route_ to the junction, to fill their bottles at the _benī_, or bathing-place. They are passing some of the tombs of the faithful.

In the foreground are some aloes. In India the hedges are full of this plant, and it flowers annually.

THE GRAM GRINDER.

In front of a native village a woman is spinning, and on the right is another Hindū woman, a gram grinder. Gram (_chāna_, _cicer arietinum_, chick pea) is used for the food of horses in India. It is ground in a _chakkī_, or mill, which is formed of two flat circular stones, the lower of which is generally fixed in the earth, and from its centre a peg passes through a hole in the upper stone, and forms a pivot on which the upper stone works. The gram is put in through this hole in the upper stone, and the flour works out at the edges between the two stones. When there is much work to be done, two women will sit on the ground and grind the same mill, which is placed between their legs. This is the sort of mill spoken of in Scripture: “Two women were grinding at the mill, the one shall be taken and the other left.” Matt. xxiv. 41.

Two children are playing with some meal in a basket; one of them is adorned with a number of charms, fastened on a string. The _ta’wīz_, or charm, is an armlet, to ward off evil spirits, and all misfortune. The native beds, resting against the wall on the right, serve as beds by night, and as resting-places by day.

HURDWAR.

Hurdwar, on the right bank of the Ganges, a place of great sanctity, is celebrated as the resort of Hindū pilgrims, in amazing numbers. Hurdwar, or _Hurīdwar_, (the gate of Hurī, or Vishnū,) is also called _Gangū-dwāra_—as at this place the Ganges, having traversed 150 miles from its secluded mountain birth-place, and having forced a passage through the last barrier or gate (_dwāra_), emerges in a broad clear stream upon the plains. Hurdwar contains many fine buildings parallel with the course of the river, some of which have their foundations in the sacred waters. They are generally of brick, but many are of very fine white freestone. The bed of the river is intersected with low woody islands, and is a full mile broad in the rainy season.

A fair takes place annually at Hurdwar, in the month of April, lasting nearly a fortnight; that being the period chosen by pilgrims, who flock from all parts of India to perform their ablutions in the Ganges: it is held in the bed of the river, which at that period is nearly dry. Two or three hundred thousand people are attracted to this fair, and every twelfth year, it is supposed a million of people assemble at this place. The scene is interesting in the highest degree. Merchants from Calcutta meet with others from Osbeck Tartary, and Cabul; and thousands of Seiks attend the fair. Horse merchants from Bokhara and Cabul occupy the central parts of the dry bed of the river; those from Tūrkistān encamp at the back of the town. Elephant dealers traverse the roads of the fair with their animals, morning and evening; and the place is crowded with camels, mules, and shawl and jewel merchants; in fact, merchandise of every description is collected at the fair from every part of the Eastern world, and it is difficult to convey even a faint idea of the swarms of living creatures, men and beasts of every description, which occupy every foot of ground during the fair.

The Hindūs receive from the Brahmans a certificate of having performed the pilgrimage; and carriers of holy water attend in great numbers to bring away the sacred stream in bottles, carefully sealed and stamped.

THE BATHING GHĀT.

The principal bathing ghāt has been lately rebuilt in a most splendid manner by the Government of Bengal, under the superintendence of an officer of engineers; it is now both elegant and commodious, and will prevent the destruction of so many human beings, which so often occurred by the sudden rush of the devotees through the old and narrow ghāt to reach the water at the propitious moment, which was often at midnight. The auspicious moment is calculated by the Brahmans, who aver that a great increase in the efficacy of the rite is derivable from its performance, when Jupiter is in Aquarius, which happens every twelfth year, or when the sun enters Aries.

A wandering mendicant in the foreground is playing on an _ektara_, a one-stringed instrument, formed of a gourd, surmounted by peacocks’ feathers—the Paganini of the East!

BARH.

The scene before you represents the encampment of the Commander-in-chief at Barh, at the foot of the hills, distant about thirty miles from Simla. Here the baggage elephants, and camels, deposit their loads, a part of which are carried up the mountains by the hill men; the remainder, with the carriages, palanquins, and tents, are either sent back to the plains, or placed in _godowns_ belonging to a Simla firm at Barh. The ladies of the party are sitting in _jampāns_, ready to ascend “The Hills,” as these mountains are called, from being at the foot of the Himalaya. The _jampān_ is a sort of arm-chair, with a top and curtains to it, to afford shelter from the sun or rain; long poles are affixed to it, and it is carried by four _Paharīs_, singular-looking little black, hill fellows, harnessed between the poles after their fashion. A group of them are sitting near the _jampāns_. They are little fellows, with flat ugly faces, like the Tartar race, dressed in black woollen coarse trowsers, a blanket of the same over their shoulders, and a rope round their waists; a black greasy round leather cap on their heads, sometimes decorated all round the face with bunches of freshly gathered hill flowers. They are very honest, and very idle; moreover, most exceedingly dirty. The women are good-looking and strong. Polyandry is a common institution. Gentlemen ascend the hills either in a _jampān_ or on a _gūnth_, a hill-poncy, a most sure-footed, sagacious animal, who will carry you safely round the most dangerous places, where you have a wall of rock on the one side, and a precipice on the other. A _jumna-par_ goat, with its long silky ears, is lying on the ground near a shawl goat from Cashmere. Some men of a corps of irregular horse are in attendance on the Commander-in-Chief, and the _tom-tom wālā_, with his drum, is seated on his blanket, on which the people throw cowries, and sometimes _paisā_, small copper coins: a _tom-tom wālā_ is a constant attendant on every camp.

SIMLA—THE CONICAL HILL.

The view now before you represents the conical hill at Simla; it was taken by Lieutenant-Colonel Luard from his house, called The Craigs. Simla is about 7000 feet above the level of the sea; it is not many miles from Rampore, the chief town in the valley of the Sutledge, and is one of the favourite places of resort of Europeans during the hot season.

As the chosen retreat of Governors-General and Commanders-in-Chief, from the burning plains of India, the place has enjoyed for some years past many considerable advantages. A great number of residences have been built on the hills; the roads are good; there is a church, a school, an observatory, an amateur theatre, &c. You have a glimpse of the snowy ranges in the distance. The conical hill is crowned by Stirling Castle; and the house below it was then inhabited by Colonel Birch, the Judge Advocate General. The flag-staff points out the residence of his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, and the houses below, on the left, are those occupied by the Aid-de-camps. Two hill men are in the foreground, with the baskets in which they carry provisions on their backs.

SIMLA.

The view is a continuation of Simla; and one of the residences now before you is that of Mr. Gubbins, of the Bengal Civil Service.

The hills are covered with the finest vegetation, and the views are beautiful. The evergreen oak flourishes in magnificence, the deodar fir rises to enormous height, and the bright crimson-flowered rhododendron is a _forest tree_, not a shrub, as you have it in England. Violets are under every rock, the wild notes of the hill birds are heard in every direction, and health, strength, and spirits are imparted by the pure, delicious, and bracing mountain air.

FAGOO.

On the Hill of Fagoo, here represented, is a Traveller’s Bungalow, constructed of wood. A group of _Paharīs_, or hill men, are on the right, and in the distance are the snowy ranges of the Himalaya. Water is procured from the _khuds_, as the deep narrow valleys between the hills are called, where it is found in little rills.

THE GANGES.

This mountainous and picturesque scene represents the force with which the holy river rushes downwards from the deep recesses in the mountains, until it passes the last barrier of rocks, and emerges on the plains near Hurdwar.

The _dēodar_, Pinus dēodara, rises to a magnificent height in these regions, sometimes measuring 100 feet: its oil, called _dēodar_, is used by the natives as a powerful remedy in rheumatic attacks. Leopards and bears inhabit the forests, and the musk deer is sometimes, though but rarely found. The black and the golden eagles of the Himalaya swoop over the precipices, and a great variety of remarkably beautiful pheasants are found here. Specimens of all these birds may be seen in the Museum.

THE SNOWY REGIONS.

As you approach Gangoutrī, you enter on the snowy regions; and in the scene before you, the hill men, with baskets of provisions, are toiling up the steep ascent, for which their stout and sinewy limbs are well adapted; and pilgrims are ascending the mountain. An English gentleman, seated beneath a small tent, is resting, refreshing himself, and enjoying the warmth of the fire his attendants have kindled, ere he re-commences the toilsome ascent of the snowy mountains.

GANGOUTRĪ.

Gangoutrī, the source of the most sacred river in Hindostan, is now before you. The pious Hindū believes, that in this awful solitude Mahadēo sits enthroned in clouds and mist, amid rocks that defy the approach of living thing, and snows that make desolation more awful. Surrounded by gigantic peaks entirely cased in snow, and almost beyond the regions of animal and vegetable life, an awful silence prevails, except when broken by the thundering peals of falling avalanches. Cold, wild, and stupendous, the dazzling brilliancy of the snow is rendered more striking by its contrast with the dark blue colour of the sky; and at night the stars shine with a lustre they have not in a denser atmosphere. Gangoutrī (_Gangā avatārī_), marked 10,319 feet above the sea, is the celebrated place of pilgrimage, near to which the Ganges issues: its course has not been traced beyond Gangoutrī; for the stream, a little farther, is entirely concealed under a glacier or iceberg, and is supposed to be inaccessible. The _mandap_, or Hindū temple, built by a Ghoorka chief, is of stone, and contains small statues of Bhāgīrath, Gangā, and other local deities. It stands on a piece of rock about twenty feet higher than the bed of the Ganges; and at a little distance there is a rough wooden building to shelter travellers. The last day of his journey the pilgrim fasts, and on his arrival at the sacred spot, he has his whole body shaved; after which he bathes, performs funeral obsequies in honour of his deceased ancestors, and makes presents to the Brahmans.

To perish by cold in the mountains during a pilgrimage, forms one of the methods by which the Hindūs may meritoriously put a period to their existence; it is also one of the Hindū atonements for great offences. The pilgrim must remain seven days at Gangoutrī: when he is about to return, he obtains some of the offerings which have been presented to the idol or idols, and brings them home to give to his friends; these consist of sweet-meats, _tulsī_ leaves, the ashes of cow-dung, &c. To obtain its full benefit, the pilgrimage must be performed on foot. A trifle is paid to the Brahman for the privilege of taking the water, which the Hindūs believe is so pure as neither to evaporate nor become corrupted by being kept and transported to distant places. Notwithstanding the great efficacy attributed to this pilgrimage, Gangoutrī is but little frequented, owing to the hardships to be endured, and the great difficulties that are met with on the route; the accomplishment of it is supposed to redeem the performer from many troubles in this world, and ensure a happy transit through all the stages of transmigration he may have to undergo.

The snowy peaks of Gangoutrī rise in glittering whiteness high above the clouds. Look on those mountains of eternal snow,—the rose tints linger on them, the white clouds roll below, and their peaks are sharply set upon a sky of the brightest, clearest, and deepest blue. Who may describe the solitary loveliness, the speaking quietude that wraps these forest scenes? Who can look unmoved on the coronets of snow that crown the eternal Himalaya?

“Our fathers worshipped in this mountain.” (John iv. 20.) In these awful solitudes, where eternity is throned in “icy halls of cold sublimity,” the Hindūs think “men ought to worship.” The pilgrim gazes with delight on the aërial mountains that pour down Gangā and Yamunā from their snow-formed caves, and enjoys those solemn feelings of natural piety with which the spirit of solitude imbues the soul.

We have now traced the course of the Ganges, from the branch called the Hoogly, which flows past Fort William, Bengal, to Gangoutrï, its source in the Himalaya. The Diorama is concluded, and we trust that satisfaction and pleasure have been experienced by the audience who have accompanied us on the pilgrimage.

THE MUSEUM

is open for the inspection of those who have honoured with their presence the DIORAMA OF HINDOSTAN.

THE END.

LONDON:

GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS,

ST. JOHN’S SQUARE.

Prospectus.

In the Spring of 1852 will be published, in One Vol., royal 8vo, handsomely bound in cloth,

A HISTORY

OF THE

DRESS OF THE BRITISH SOLDIER,

FROM THE EARLIEST PERIOD TO THE PRESENT TIME.

Illustrated with Fifty Drawings.

BY

LIEUT.-COLONEL JOHN LUARD.

_Price_ 30_s._ 0_d._ _To Subscribers_, 25_s._ 0_d._ _On India Paper_, 32_s._ 6_d._ _To Subscribers_, 27_s._ 6_d._

The object of this work is to describe the numerous changes, which have taken place in the Dress of Military Men; first, during the time when armour was worn, but more particularly since it has been left off; with a view, by accurately delineating the various changes, to induce British Officers to reflect without prejudice on this important subject, and to form a just estimate of what is useful, desirable, and ornamental for a soldier’s equipment, at the smallest expense, both for officers and privates,—taking into consideration the best mode of ensuring freedom of action for the different arms of the service, and for health and comfort, while enduring the various climates of our colonies.

Opinions of the Press.

WANDERINGS OF A PILGRIM,

During Four-and-Twenty Years in the East; with Revelations of Life in the Zenana.

BY

THE ENGLISH REVIEW.

“The tone of bold and careless frankness in which this interesting and instructive work is written, is singularly attractive. ‘Les Indoos peints par eux-mêmes’ might be its title.”

WESTMINSTER AND FOREIGN QUARTERLY REVIEW.

“But we must here take leave of a work in which we have felt a more than ordinary interest; the spirit with which the various events of a prolonged residence in the East are delineated, the beautiful illustrations, and the graphic descriptions of scenery, will ensure for the book a favourable reception from every reader.”

NAVAL AND MILITARY GAZETTE.

“If we admire the book much for its external beauty, we admire it still more for its internal merit—for the infinite variety, curiosity, and interest of its contents.”

THE COURT JOURNAL.

“To the authoress of the twenty-four years’ ‘Wanderings’ has been reserved the honour of superseding the vivacious correspondent of Alexander Pope, and of taking the first rank as the chronicler of the scenes of the Zenana. Nothing of the kind can rival the portraiture of the ‘Pilgrim.’ It is fresh, intelligent, and minutely interesting.”

BLACKWOOD’S LADY’S MAGAZINE.

“We affirm, without fear of contradiction, that so graphic, picturesque, and thoroughly _real_ a delineation of India as a country, and its inhabitants as a people, has never before appeared.”

THE ASIATIC AND COLONIAL QUARTERLY JOURNAL.

“This, in all its phases, is a very splendid, very attractive work, and amply meriting the exceeding favour with which it has been received; exciting and achieving, as it assuredly has, an extended interest and popularity throughout the reading communities of Europe and Asia; the while, receiving Her Majesty of England’s gracious patronage, along with that, _to its fullest extent_, of those mighty Kings of the East, the Directors of the East India Company.”

THE BRITANNIA AND CONSERVATIVE JOURNAL.

“Now, the great charm and recommendation of the ‘Wanderings’ is their clear and perfect _truth_.”

THE WEEKLY NEWS.

“She has gone forth with a determination of purpose which none of the perils of Life in India could shake, and in a zealous pursuit of the truth which no sophistry could check; and grasping alike at the loftiest and minutest objects, has contrived to accumulate a mass of information never before comprehended in a single work.”

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES

1. P. 24, changed “each side her bows” to “each side of her bows”. 2. P. 44, changed “one side the hut” to “one side of the hut”. 3. Silently corrected typographical errors and variations in spelling. 4. Retained anachronistic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed. 5. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.

End of Project Gutenberg's Grand Moving Diorama of Hindostan, by Fanny Parks