Grand moving diorama of Hindostan : $b displaying the scenery of the Hoogly, the Bhagirathi, and the Ganges, from Fort William, Bengal, to Gangoutri, in the HimalayaParlby, Fanny Parkes
History
Grand moving diorama of Hindostan : $b displaying the scenery of the Hoogly, the Bhagirathi, and the Ganges, from Fort William, Bengal, to Gangoutri, in the Himalaya
Parlby, Fanny Parkes
India -- Description and travel; Panoramas -- England -- London -- History -- 19th century
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.
[Illustration]
HURDWAR.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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