Diary of a Pedestrian in Cashmere and Thibet Part 10

sitting behind a ma.s.sive volume richly cased in cloth of gold and silver, while squatted around under a canopy, were the Sikh faithful, offering their presents of cowries, chupatties, b.a.l.l.s of sweetmeats, and showers of yellow and white necklaces of flowers. The book was the original law of Gooroo Gurunth Sahib, which they had just finished reading, and, as we entered, they were commencing to cover it up again, which they did, with great pomp and ceremony, in a number of cloths of various patterns, after which they distributed the votive offerings among themselves and the people present, and held a sort of banquet over the sweets and flowers. In the midst of the proceedings, a very fine specimen of the race of f.u.keer came in, and presenting an offering of the smallest, laid his head upon the ground before the book, and, without a word, took himself off again. He was girt round the loins with a yellowish-red cloth; his body, from head to foot, was covered with ashes. The hair of his head was matted together in strips, like the tail of an uncared cow, and reached to his waist. A shallow earthen pot was his hat, and over his shoulders hung two large gourds, suspended by a cord, while in his hand he carried a long staff, covered over with stuff of the same kind as that round his waist. Such was the figure which entered among the gaily-dressed mult.i.tude in the saintly durbar; and, although to the a.s.sembled people there appeared nothing whatever either strange or unusual in the arrival, to us, who were looking on, the contrast between the unclad dirty mendicant, and the pure white vestments of the Sikhs around, rendered it a most striking and remarkable apparition.

On entering, he had removed the earthen pot which formed his hat, and, one of the two gourds which were round his shoulders having fallen to the ground in the act, it was amusing to see him pause for a second, and anxiously examine whether any compound fracture had taken place in the precious article of his very limited dinner service. One extremity of the building we found was occupied for Hindoo wors.h.i.+p; so that fraternity and equality, worthy of imitation seems to be the order of the day among the religions of Umritsur. The interior was richly decorated with gilding and mirrors, &c., but was little worthy of remark in comparison with the richness of the exterior effect. Presenting a "buks.h.i.+sh" to the expectant padres who guarded the sacred book, we left them to their devotions, and betook ourselves once more to our bungalow.

OCTOBER 23. -- Travelling all night, we reached Jullunder at six A.M., and, after breakfast, again started for Loodianah, where we dined. We here again crossed the Sutlej, but, the water being low, boat navigation was dispensed with, and a shaky bridge, and about two miles of sandy river-bed, completed the pa.s.sage.

At Loodianah we were stormed by a host of merchants, with pushmeena and other soft matters, who were rather disappointed at finding we had come from the birth-place of such like manufactures. Some of the local shawls, however, or "Rampore chudders," were beautifully fine and delicate, and seemed worthy of inspection.

OCTOBER 24. -- Reached Umballa at eight A.M., and started again shortly after. Our horses to-day were most miserable caricatures, and it was with difficulty we managed to progress at all. The last stage was accomplished at a walk; and what with this and the delay caused by a couple of sandy river-beds, we only reached Kurnaul at ten P.M. The miserable condition of the horses was accounted for by the enormously high price of grain and the absence of gra.s.s, in consequence of the want of rain. The general topic, in fact, is now the failure of the rains, and consequent apprehensions of a famine throughout the land. "Atar" is here eight seers the rupee, or in other words, flour sells at one s.h.i.+lling and ninepence a stone -- an enormous price in these parts.

OCTOBER 25. -- Sunrise found us still half-way to Delhi, and we stopped to breakfast at the little bungalow of Ghureekulla. Here we found a fine old Khansaman, who gave us an account of the incidents of the Mutiny which came under his notice. He had received a flying party of two hundred men, women, and children, who arrived at dead of night, some on horses, some on foot, and all worn and haggard by their march from Delhi, from which they had escaped. These he took care of, and supplied with food until the following day, when they departed, without, by his own account, giving him anything, either as pay or reward. He afterwards a.s.sisted others also, and received about one hundred and twenty rupees, one way or another, for his services. At present he receives six rupees a month, with whatever he can pick up from travellers; not a very large amount in the out-of-the-way little jungle station of Ghureekulla.

OCTOBER 26. -- Pa.s.sed through Delhi by moonlight, and reached the bungalow at one A.M. At gun-fire we emerged from our locomotives, and went to explore the king's palace. In spite of the late lesson on the subject of sepoys, we found the gates of the fort held entirely by native guards, and a very small body of Europeans located within the walls. After rambling through the place, and discovering that its only beauty lay at present in its exterior, we went to the Jama Musjid, a fine mosque of red granite, inlaid in parts with white marble. The cupolas, of great size, were entirely marble, and the minarets, also of marble, were closely inlaid. The place had been only recently handed over to the Moslems after its late seizure, and was not as yet used for wors.h.i.+p. Ascending one of the minarets, we had a fine view of the city of the Great Mogul dynasty, with its minarets and ornamented streets; and in the distance we could discern the positions occupied by our besieging force, when the last of the kings was brought so rudely to the termination of his reign.

OCTOBER 27. -- Reached Koel, or Allyghur, at eight A.M. Started again at five, stopping on the way to inspect the Jama Musjid, and a very fine old tower, probably of Buddhist or Jain origin, which was covered over with ancient inscriptions. Just as the Muezzin was calling to evening prayer, we again resumed our monotonous order of travel, and branched off towards Agra to visit the famous Taj Mahul.

OCTOBER 28. -- Reached Agra at two A.M., and finding the bungalow full, had to go to the hotel. At sunrise we drove out to the Taj, and here, I think, for the first time, we were not disappointed in the difference between reality and description. The entrance to the gardens in which the Taj is situated was beautiful in itself, but one sight of the main building left no room for admiration of anything besides.

It is situated on the banks of the Jumna, with a fine view of the magnificent fort, with its mosque and minarets, and is entirely of pure white marble, inlaid with stones into shapes of flowers and arabesques, &c. At each corner rises a white marble minaret, like a pillar of snow, beautifully decorated and carved, but unsullied by a single line of any other colour whatever. The interior is profusely inlaid with minute stones of considerable value, and is lit by carved marble windows of the most beautiful design imaginable. In the centre, surrounding the tomb of Mumtaz and her lord, is a marvellous white marble screen, in the form of a polygon, carved like perforated ivory, and also inlaid with minute stones of every shape and colour.[34]

The queen, in whose honour the tomb was built, occupies the very centre of the enclosure, Shah Jehan's tomb being on one side of it, and larger in size, which rather spoils the symmetry of the s.p.a.ce.

Exactly underneath the tombs, in the main body of the building, one descends to a marble vault, where there are two others precisely similar in shape, but without any inscription or ornament whatever, and under these latter the mortal remains of the famous Shah Jehan and Mumtaz repose in peace. Over the queen's tomb, in the very centre of the interior, a single ostrich egg was suspended by an almost invisible thread, probably to shadow forth something of the meaning of the "Resurgam" affixed to monuments elsewhere. On either side, without the mausoleum, are two buildings facing inwards, one of which is a mosque, built in red granite and white marble; and the whole are profusely ornamented with carvings in marble, which would take an age to examine thoroughly, and which produce an effect quite incapable of being adequately portrayed by either pen or pencil.

In one of these edifices, among the inlaid work and arabesques, and not far from the mortal remains of the departed King and Queen, we found a curious and interesting inscription, which seems to have been hitherto unmentioned by the many travellers who have visited the sacred spot. It was prominently placed and easily decipherable, being in unusually large letters, and in that character which might be called the "UNEIFORM," of which so many valuable specimens exist in all parts of the known globe.

It ran thus : --

IN MEMORY OF VALENTINE'S DAY.

The sentence appeared unfinished, and one or two words were probably required to complete the sense, but from similar existing records there could be no difficulty in filling in the missing syllables.

It was curious, however, to reflect what the feeling could have been that stayed the writer's hand, and prevented him from finis.h.i.+ng his graceful tribute to the mighty dead.

Mumtaz, from whose name the word "Taj" is derived (the letter "z"

being incapable of being p.r.o.nounced by many natives except as a "j"),was the daughter of the famous Noor Jehan's brother Asoph Khan. Shah Jehan followed his queen in A.D. 1665, and was laid in the building which he had himself originally designed in her honour alone.

With Noor Jehan and Jehangeer the case was reversed. The conqueror of the world ended his career in A.D. 1627, and the partner of all his Cashmerian wanderings, and many adventures, who wore no colour but white after his death, finally rejoined him in a tomb which she had raised to his memory at Lah.o.r.e.

Having paid due homage to the beauty of the far-famed mausoleum, we went to the Fort, and, after visiting the Ram Bagh, the Ikmam Dowlah, and the various palaces built by Akbar Shah, once more took the road, and were soon again galloping through the dust, morning bringing us to the bungalow of Bewah. From this we again made for Ghoorsahagunge and Cawnpore, and by rail to Allahabad, there completing a circuit of travel extending to between two and three thousand miles:

"In heat and cold We'd roved o'er many a hill and many a dale, Through many a wood and many an open ground, In suns.h.i.+ne and in shade, in wet and fair, Thoughtful or blithe of heart as might befall Our best companions, now the driving winds, And now the trotting brooks and whispering trees, And now the music of our own quick steps With many a short-lived thought that pa.s.sed between And disappeared."

And now but one day more remains of our six months' leave. The 31st of October sees us again fairly in the hands of the authorities. Brothers in arms, who during our absence have been having "all work and no play," receive us with warm and disinterested welcome. The Q.M.G. is hauled away in triumph by a swarm of fellow black-legs to glad the squaw-like partner of his sooty bosom. The last remnants of the expedition are fairly broken up, and already the days when we went gipsying have pa.s.sed away "a long time ago."

Route.

Miles.

Allahabad Cawnpore 120 Ghoorsahagunge 72 Etawah 73 Kurga 72 Delhi 51 Kurnaul 73 Umballa 45 Kalka 40 Kussowlie 9 Simla 40 Hureepore 20 Kalka 29 Umballa 40 Thikanmajura 36 Jullundur 61 Umritsur 59 Lah.o.r.e 35 Gugerwalla 39 Goojerat 30 Bimber 27 Serai Saidabad 12 Nowshera 11 Chungas 11 Rajaori 12 Thanna 12 Burrumgulla 11 Poshana 6 Peer Punjal 9 Poshana 9 Aliabad 11 Heerpore 13 Shupayon 6 Ramoon 9 Sirinugger 14 Wuler by water Islamabad ,, Atchabull 6 Vernagh 11 Islamabad 15 Sirinugger by water Gunberbull ,, Kungur 11 Gundisursing 12 Soonamurg 14 Foot of the Hills 9 Pandras 24 Dras 8 Tusgam 14 Chungun 12 Pushkoom 10 Waka 13 Khurboo 10 Lamieroo 12 Nurila 16 Suspul 14 Egnemo 10 Ladak 18 Chunga 18 Hemis 2 Ladak 20 Pitok 4 Egnemo 14 Suspul 10 Nurila 14 Lamieroo 16 Khurboo 12 Waka 10 Pushkoom 13 Thambis 14 Sankoo 16 Sooroo 12 Among the Mountains 11 Ditto 14 Sucknez 11 Bragnion 14 Peer 16 Nowbogh 9 Kukunath 10 Atchabull 8 Islamabad 6 Sirinugger by water Baramoula ,, Nowshera 8 Uree 15 Chukothee 15 Hutteian 14 Chukar 9 Mehra 6 Dunna 6 Puttun 6 Dewul 9 Muree 11 Rawul Pindee 37 Gugerkhan 30 Jhelum 37 Goojerat 31 Gugerwalla 30 Lah.o.r.e 39 Umritsur 35 Jullundur 59 Loodiana 32 Umballa 71 Kurnaul 45 Ghureekulla 36 Delhi 36 Allyghur 79 Agra 50 Bewah 82 Ghoorsahagunge 79 Cawnpore 72 Allahabad 120

Parts of the country not having been at the time correctly mapped, these distances are in some instances approximations only.

The Religions of Cashmere and Thibet.

During all our wanderings, whether in India, Cashmere, or Thibet, the most striking feature throughout, was the outward display of religion and the prominent part which religious forms of wors.h.i.+p take in the every-day life of the people. Monuments and temples everywhere bear testimony to the universal belief in a Supreme Being; and Hindoo, Mussulman, and Buddhist alike, by numberless prayers and frequent offerings, confess their desire to propitiate His power and to cultivate His favour.

Every little village has its "Musjid" or "s.h.i.+wala," and everywhere, and at all hours, votaries of the different sects may be seen, in the fas.h.i.+on they have learnt from childhood, openly REMEMBERING, at least, their Creator.

The naked Hindoo, with loosened scalp lock and otherwise closely-shaven head, stands in running water, and with his face upturned to the sun apostrophises the Divine Essence, whose qualities and attributes he has alone been taught to recognise, through the numberless incarnations of his degenerate creed. Five times a day the Mussulman kneels in open adoration of his Maker, and, doffing his slippers, repeats, with forehead to the ground, the formula laid down for him by the only Prophet he has learnt to believe in. The Buddhist, too, mutters his "Um mani panee" at every turn, and keeps his praying wheel in endless motion, with entire confidence in its mystic virtues, and fullest faith in the efficacy of those forms which he has thus been taught to follow from his cradle.

Each wors.h.i.+ps after the fas.h.i.+on of his fathers before him, and each, by the dim illumination of his own particular light, fancies himself upon the true path, and is able plainly to perceive his neighbour groping in the outer darkness.

Seeing all this, and turning in imagination to other lands, it is curious to consider that the Church which possesses the only Lamp of Truth, and who by the help of its light p.r.o.nounces all these zealous wors.h.i.+ppers alike, to be but "Infidels and Turks," and says to all, in language not quite so polite as that of Touchstone, "Truly, shepherds, ye are in a parlous state," herself makes no such public demonstration of her faith. To an Eastern infidel travelling in the West, she would even appear, to outward eye, a tenfold greater infidel than her neighbours. Except on one day in seven, he would seldom find a place of public wors.h.i.+p open to his gaze, while the Name which he himself has learned to reverence to such a degree that every sc.r.a.p of paper that might chance to bear it, is sacred in his eyes, he might hear a thousand times, and perhaps not once in adoration; and while it commences every action of his own life he would there find it utterly excluded from its accustomed place. Even the form of parting salutation, which in almost all lands -- Infidel and Heretical -- greets him in the name of G.o.d, would, in Protestant England, fall upon his ear with no such signification. While the benighted Hindoo greets his parting neighbour to the present day with "Khuda Hafiz" -- G.o.d the Preserver -- the Englishman's "Good-bye," like well-worn coin, has changed so much by use, that now, no stranger could discern in it any trace whatever of the image with which it was originally stamped.

And although the comparison between the apparent creeds of East and West is truly that between a very large proportion of faithful professors of a false religion and, to outward eye, a similarly large proportion of unfaithful followers of the true religion, it is interesting to form some idea of the different systems which have existed for so many ages, and which, though proved alike by reason and revelation to be of human origin and unequal to the wants of human nature, have yet maintained their influence to the present day, and hold among their votaries still such zealous wors.h.i.+ppers of an unknown G.o.d.

The oldest of all these religions appears to be that of the Hindoos. The Vedas, or Scriptures, date as far back as the Books of Moses, 1100 B.C.; and previously even to their then being committed to writing by the Sage Vyasa, they are believed to have been preserved for ages by tradition. The primary doctrine of the Vedas is the Unity of G.o.d. There is, they say, "but one Deity, the Supreme Spirit, the Lord of the Universe, whose work is the universe." "Let as adore the supremacy of that divine Sun, the G.o.dhead, who illuminates all, who recreates all, from whom all proceed, to whom all must return, whom we invoke to direct our understandings aright in our progress towards His holy seat. What the sun and light are to this world, that are the Supreme Good and Truth to the intellectual and invisible universe; and as our corporeal eyes have a distinct perception of objects enlightened by the sun, thus our souls acquire certain knowledge by meditating on the light of truth which emanates from the Being of beings; that is the light by which alone our minds can be directed to the path of beat.i.tude."

Every Brahmin must pray at morning and evening twilight in some unfrequented place, near pure water, and must bathe daily; he must also daily perform five sacraments, viz., studying the Vedas, making oblations to the manes of the departed, giving rice to living creatures, and receiving guests with honour. As to the doctrine of a future state, they believe in the transmigration of the soul, but that between the different stages of existence it enjoys, according to merit or demerit, years and years of happiness in some of the heavens, or suffers torments of similar duration in some of the h.e.l.ls. The most wicked, however, after being purged of their crimes by ages of suffering, and by repeated transmigrations, may ascend in the scale of being until they finally enter heaven and attain the highest reward of all good, which is incorporation with the Divine Essence.

Like more enlightened systems of religion, the Hindoo faith has degenerated from the purity originally inculcated. The Monotheism, though still existing, has been almost smothered by a system of innumerable incarnations; by means of which the attributes of an unseen Deity were to be brought to the understandings of the ignorant; and, as might be expected, the hidden symbol has been almost lost in the tangible reality. The later Scriptures, or Puranas, are believed to have been compiled between the eighth and sixteenth centuries, A.D.; and though still upholding the existence of a Supreme Being, by whom all things are composed, they introduce a variety of incarnations and divinities almost innumerable. Of these, the three princ.i.p.al are Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, representing respectively the creating, preserving, and destroying principles; and their wives, Sereswutee, Lukshmee, and Dewee. These latter are the active powers which develop the principles represented by the triad. The divinity most commonly portrayed however, though not publicly wors.h.i.+pped, is Gunesh. Almost every dwelling has her effigy rudely painted over the entrance; and she is invoked at the beginning of all undertakings, and is the remover of all difficulties. Her peculiar appearance is accounted for by the fact of her having been killed at an early period of life by Siva, who cut off her head, and, afterwards relenting, replaced it with the first that happened to come to hand, which turned out to be an elephant's!

Gunesh was produced by the intense wishes of Dewee, and is now appealed to at the commencement of almost every act in Hindoo life.

The following invocation to this "household G.o.d" will give some idea of the position she holds in public estimation. It is taken from the "Prem Sagur," or Ocean of Love, a history of the life of Krishna, a son of Vishnu, who, with Siva and Dewee, or Mahadewee, monopolises almost the entire public respect and adoration: --

"Oh elephant-faced Deity, obviator of difficulties, of exalted fame resplendent, Grant as a boon, pure language, wisdom, and felicity may be much promoted.

Thou on whose two celestial feet the world is gazing, wors.h.i.+pping both day and night, O mother of the universe, grant unto me, remembering thee, true skill and utterance."

The "Ocean of Love" gives a full account of the various incarnations of Krishna, the favourite divinity of the Hindoos, and opens with the scene of his birth. Kans, his uncle, has placed guards, in order that the child may be killed at his first appearance, it having been predicted that Kans himself is to fall by the hands of Krishna. The Cashmerian artist -- whose powers of colouring were his chief recommendation -- has depicted the moment when Vasadeo and Devakee, the father and mother, viewing Krishna, with long-drawn sighs, both begin to say, "If, by some means, we could send away this child, then it would escape the guilty Kans." Vasadeo says, "Without destiny none can preserve him; the writing of Fate, that only will be accomplished."

Destiny being propitious, the guards fall asleep upon their posts, as shown in the accompanying design, and another child is subst.i.tuted for Krishna. He is afterwards brought up as a herdsman, and spends his childhood among the milkmaids of Braj, upon whom he plays all sorts of tricks. "One day the divine Krishna played upon the flute in the forest, when, hearing the sound of the instrument, all the young women of Braj arose in confusion, and hastened and a.s.sembled in one place. The dark-blue Krishna, with body of the hue of clouds, stood in the midst; and such was the beauty of the fair ones, as they sported, that they resembled golden creepers growing from beneath a blue mountain!"

The description of the state of the world, on Krishna's appearance, is given by the saintly Shukadeo to King Parikshah -- "O King, at the time of the divine Krishna appearing, in the minds of all such joy arose, that not even the name of grief remained. With joy the woods and groves began to bear fruits and flowers, their verdure still increasing. The rivers, streams, and lakes were filled with water, and upon them birds of every kind were sporting; and, from city to city, from house to house, from village to village, rejoicings were celebrated. The Brahmins were performing sacrifice; the Regents of the ten divisions of the horizon rejoiced. Clouds were moving over the circuit of Braj. The deities, seated in their cars, rained down flowers; the holders of the magic pill, the celestial musicians, and heavenly bards, continually sounding drums, kettledrums, and pipes, were singing the praises of the divine virtues; and, in one direction, Urvasee, and all the celestial dancers, were dancing. In such a time, then, on Wednesday, the eighth day of the dark half of the month Bhadon, at midnight, while the moon was in the mansion of Rohanee, the divine Krishna was born, of the colour of clouds, moon-faced and lotus-eyed, with a girdle of yellow cloth pa.s.sing round his loins, wearing a crown, and arrayed in a necklace of five jewels, produced from the elements of nature, and with ornaments set with gems, in a four-armed form, sustaining the sh.e.l.l, the quoit, the mace, and the lotus he presented himself."

Krishna afterwards espouses a fair lady, of the name of Rukminee, and the marriage is thus poetically described. Rukminee has written a letter, filled with love, and sent it by the hand of a Brahmin, to the Root of Joy, Krishna: -- "The Brahmin having arrived at Duarika, perceives that the town is in the midst of the ocean, and on the four sides of it there are great mountains and woods and groves, which add beauty to the scene. In these were various kinds of beasts and birds, and the limpid lakes were filled with pure water, and lotus flowers were blooming, upon which swarms upon swarms of black bees were humming. To the distance of many miles orchards, containing an endless variety of fruit and flowers, extended; along these enclosures betel gardens were flouris.h.i.+ng. The gardeners, standing at the wells, were singing with sweet strains; and, working waterwheels and buckets, were irrigating the high and low grounds."

Beholding this beautiful scene, and being gladdened thereby, the Brahmin, still advancing, beholds that "on four sides of the city are very lofty ramparts, with four gateways, in which folding-doors, inlaid with gold, are fixed, and, inside the city, houses of five and six stories high, of silver and gold, adorned with jewels, so lofty as to converse with the sky, are glittering. Their minarets and pinnacles are gleaming like lightning, and banners and pennons of many colours are fluttering. The warm fragrance of perfumes was issuing from windows, air-holes, and lattices. At every door were placed pillars of the plantain-tree, with fresh shoots, and golden vessels. Garlands and wreathed flowers were festooned from house to house, and joyful music was sounding. From place to place, the recital of the Puranas and discourse about Krishna was kept up. The eighteen cla.s.ses were dwelling in case and tranquillity."