This Whole Scene Opened Upon Our View At A Glance.
The sun
had as yet scarcely appeared over the horizon, and the reflection
of its light shone faintly upon the gold-work and ornaments of the
central building, tipping it and the lofty minarets with rosy light,
whilst the rest of the buildings remained shrouded in the morning
haze.
With the incessant bustle of the thronging, brightly-vestured
crowd, and the accompaniment of the wild discordant tom-toming of a
band of turbaned musicians, it formed a scene which almost persuaded
one to put once more confidence in the brightly-coloured descriptions
of the "Arabian Nights." While waiting for sun-rise, we ascended one
of the minarets, from which we had a curious bird's-eye view of the
tank and surrounding city at our feet, while the plains lay stretching
away before us; the horizon level and unbroken, as if it bounded in
the ocean. From this we had also a private view of the manners and
customs of the natives. Just below us was an early morning scene in
the life of a Sikh gentleman. He was sitting up in his "four-leg,"
on the open court of an upper story, which formed his bed-room,
while his attendants were offering him his morning cup of coffee,
and otherwise attending to his wants. In one corner, another Sikh
gentleman, with one arm, was having a brass vessel of water poured
over him, and a number of similar vessels stood upon a sort of rack,
ready for the master of the house to have his bath.
Scattered about the foot of the bed, which had a grandly decorated
canopy, was a deputation of white-robed Sikhs paying their morning
visit, or having an audience upon some matter of business. These by
degrees got up and went out, each making a profound salaam as he passed
the bed. One of them only, the old man called back, and with him, as
he sat upon the "four-leg," he had a long and confidential talk. This
evidently was the medical adviser, and, judging by the dumb-show of
the interview which ensued, the Sikh, as evidently, was the victim
of a cold in his fine old nose, which he had doubtless caught from
sleeping in the open air. After this we repaired to the kotwallee
again, and, getting a pair of slippers in exchange for our boots,
descended to the durbar and mingled with the crowd.
Although we were inadmissible in boots, no objection whatever appeared
to be made to the entrance of Brahminee bulls; for we found a number
of them walking about the mosaic pavement with as much confidence
and impunity as if the place belonged to them.
In the building we found a collection of Sikh padres, or "gooroos,"
sitting behind a massive 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, balls 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 Fukeer 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 multitude in the
saintly durbar; and, although to the assembled 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 worship;
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 "bukshish" 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 passage.
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.
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