A Popular Account of the Manners and Customs of IndiaAcland, Charles
History
A Popular Account of the Manners and Customs of India
Acland, Charles
India -- Description and travel; India -- Social life and customs
This place is marked Juggernat'h on the maps, although properly that
is only the name of the idol in the temple. The town itself is called
Pooree, or the City of Cities.
[Sidenote: POOREE.]
I left Cuttack on Thursday, April 20, and after one night's dâk
arrived here, the distance being about forty-eight miles. I went to
the Circuit-house, a large unfurnished residence, appropriated by
Government to the use of those officers who go on circuit through the
district. However, Mr. B., the magistrate and principal person here,
would not allow me to remain there, but insisted upon my coming and
living at his house, and sending at once for my wife to come and join
me. This I gladly did. Mrs. Acland discharged most of our servants,
and came down here; so she has the benefit of living at Pooree,
and at the same time of saving money, for the month's wages of the
servants discharged will more than pay for her journey. We have a
bed-room, sitting and dressing apartments, and two bath-rooms to
ourselves; and we breakfast, dine, &c., with Mr. and Mrs. B.
It is difficult to imagine the delight of coming to such a place as
Pooree. At Cuttack we are obliged to keep every door and window shut,
in order to exclude the hot air. We close them at six in the morning
and open them at seven in the evening. One doorway is fitted with a
framework, covered with matting made of scented grass. This is called
a tatty, and is kept all day thoroughly wet, in order to cool the
room by evaporation, the punkah continually fanning over head; but
in spite of all this the heat is fearful, and still increasing; the
thermometer stood in-doors at 103°.
At Pooree, forty-eight miles from Cuttack, we have no punkahs, no
tatties; all the windows wide open, the waves rolling up close to
the houses, a delicious sea-breeze all day, the thermometer never
yet above 85°; not a mosquito to be seen, and no insects but a few
English flies. Excepting among the mountains, Pooree is perhaps the
coolest place in India, and I am considered most fortunate in having
it in my district.
The coming here is a renewal of life and strength. When we are
down on the sands in the evening, we might quite fancy ourselves
in England again; and I assure you that at five o'clock in the
afternoon, by the sea-side, we are glad to walk fast in order to keep
ourselves warm. This is the state of Pooree at present. After the
rains, that is, in October and November, it becomes extremely hot
and very unhealthy; for then the sea-breeze ceases and the land-wind
sets in, passing in its course over the dead bodies of hundreds of
pilgrims.
The most conspicuous object here is the temple of Juggernat'h, to
which devotees come from every part of India. It is an immense pile
of massive buildings. There are at times as many as one hundred
thousand pilgrims here at once. No European is allowed to enter even
the court.
[Sidenote: DANGER OF BATHING.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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