The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1897-12-11
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Imagine a valley in the form of a
huge crater, the sides of which are COW
cred with thick jungle, in the center of
which rises a green mound, forming a
pedestal for a fairylike and dazzling
marble palace, beside which the won
ders of Seville and of Granada in Spain
pale into insignificance, and around
this palace, which looks upon a great,
gloomy lake, a large town, a great
metropolis, the smallest houses Of
which are stately palaces. Not a soul
is to be seen in the broad streets, not
a trace of smoke rising into the air,
not a sound is to be heard. Such is
Ambir, which, in architectural beauty,
in stateliness, and in the loneliness
with which nature has supplemented
art and art nature, surpasses every
other city in the old world. A mix
ture OF the romantic and the myster-
1ous takes possession of the tourist
who gazes for the first time upon this
deserted city. He feels tempted to ask
himself whether, after all, it is not a
mere phantom of the Arabian Nights,
ohu "nCtLSI, ike d S6COuu CdlSLucl, nO
has come to disturb the silence of this
sleeping metropolis and to bring to
light some frightful mystery. The pal
ace in particular has a supernatural ap-
pearance, with its marble turrets that
have the yellowish tint of ivory, and
its lofty walls that are ornamented
with gilded balconies.
In spite of the impression which pre-.
walls widely that there is some mys-
terry connected with the desertion of
Amb1r, once the capital of ~Rajpoutana,,
yet its abandonment was solely and
entirely due to a piece of capricious
despotism on the part of King Jey Sing
II, who reigned at Ambir some 200
years ago, and who is famous in Or
1ental history as the greatest a%strono-
mer that India has ever known. He
took it into his head that Ambir, in
closed in the valley of the Kalikho
Mountains, was incapable of develop
ment or extension, that it was too in
accessible, and that it was unworthy
OF the grandeur of his kingdom. Ac-
cordingly, he planned and built a new
capital some eight or ten miles lower
down, and gave it the name of Jeypore.
AS soon as he had completed his task.
he commanded the entire population Of
Ambir to abandon their homes, and to
take up their residence in Jeypore. No
n was permitted to remain behind,
and thus it happens that to-day the
great city of Ambir, which, founded in
the first century of the Christian era.
was so magnifcently built that none of
its palaces or public buildings have
yet fallen into ruin or decay, is to-day
tenanted only by myriads of MONKEYS.
while here or there a naked fakir. who
has come to pray at one of the shrines
which abound on the shores of the lake
may be seen bathing in it's sombre
waters.
The royal palace is one hundred feet
above the level of the lake. But the
stone buttresses which support the
sides of the green hill upon which it
stands descend perpendicularly into
the water and look like a continuation
of the castle walls, which are built ex-
actly over them, thus making the 'front.'
age appear more than two hundred feet
high. The principal gateway of the
palace, known as the "soeve" gate, and
which is shown here, is acknowledged
to be one of the most beautiful works
of art in India. 1t is difficult to con-
vey, by means of an engraving, any