The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-05-01
THE DESERTED CITY.
MAGNIFICENT Af13ia, NAicH Has
SLEPT IN SOLITUDE 200 YEARS.

Monkeys the Only Ir7,aE;tants Of It's
With Precious Stcnes-Cne Of the I-ana-
soonest Works OF Art II All India.
Imagine a valley ii tie fern Ct a
huge crater, the sides CT which arc Gov
cred with thick jungle, u tie center Cf
which rises Q rrccc ,~c--9, rc~r3t~~ 4
pedestal for a faily-iEc and dazzling
marble palace, beside which the won
ners CT Seville and Of Granada III Spain
pale into insignifcance, and around this
palace, which locks upon a great, glccsn-
Lake. 4 large toTn, q great metropolis,
the smallest houses Ct which are stately
palaces. Not q soul is to Ec seen III the
bread streets, not a trace Of smoke rising
into the air. Not d sound is to be heard.
Such is Ambir, which in architectural
beauty, III stateliEess and in the lowell
ness with which nature has supple
mcs.ted art and art nature, SURPRISES ev-
cry ether city in the old world. A mix
ture Of the romantic ard the mysterious
takes possession Of the tourist who gazes
for the first time upon this deserted city.
He feels tempted to ask himself whether.
after al, it is not a mere phantom Of
the Arabian Nights" and whether,
like a second calendar, he has come to
disturb the silence of this sleeping me-
trCIClis and to bring to light some
frightful mystery. The palace i'll partic-
nlar las a supernatural appearance,
with its marble turrets that have the
yeilowisl tint of ivory and its lofty
walls tlat are crnamented with gildca
balconies.
III srite of the impression which pre-
walls widely that there Is some mystery
connected with the desertion Of Ambir,
once tie capital Of ~Rajpoutana, yet its
abandonment was solely and entirely
due to . piece Of capricious despotism
on the part Of King icy Sing II, who
reicred at Ambir some geo years ago,
and who is famous il oriental history
as the greatest astronomer that India
has ever known. He took it into lis
head that Ambir, inciosed i'll the valley
of the Kalikho mountains, was incapable
of development or extension; hatitw as
too Inaccessible, anG that il was uny7cr-
thy of the grandeur of his kingdom. Ac-
cordingly he planned and built d new
capital some eight or ten miles lower
down and gave it tie name of Jaipur.
As soon as he had completed his task he
commanded the entire population of
AmDir TO abandon their homes and to
take up their residence in Jaipur. No
one was permitted to remain behind, and
fhJ1a IL honnonS 4I.f folar- 4t,a rrrn,4
city CT Ambir, which, founded in the
first century of the Christian era, was so
magrificently built that none of it's pal
aces or public buildings have yet fallen
into ruin or decay, is today tenanted
only by myriads of monkeys, while here
Or there a naked fakir, who has come TO
pray at II of the shrines which abound
on the shores of the lake. may be seen
bathing i'll its somber waters.
The royal palace is leo feet above the
level Of the lake. But the stone but
dresses which support the sides of the
green hill upon which it stands descend
perpcndicularly into the water and look
like a continuation of the castle walls,
which ere built exactly over them, thus
making the frontage appear more than
200 feet high. The principal gateway of
h palace, known as the ~stsoeve'' gate,
lis acknowledged to be one of the most
beautiful works of art in India. The
marble framework of the windows
which ornament this gate are the finest
in all India. They are carved out Of sin
gle slabs of marble and are SO delicate
Ey finished that at a short distance they
resemble transparent muslin curtains.
On passing through this gateway one
finds ones self in a courtyard surround
ed by palaces, each rich in mosaics and
sculptures, in the center of which is a
'fairylike garden.
In some of these palaces the walls are
covered from the ceiling tt the floor
with inlaid work Of polished stone.
agates, t%urquoises and pieces of looking
glass arranged in groups of flowers ard
aar%abosGues, and the effect produced by
a ray CT sunshine in these apartments is
simply indescribable. In others the
doors are Of sandal and other precious
wood. 1t is difficult to conceive q more
romantic retreat, and what with the un-
broken silence, the glorious view and
the fairylike character of the palaces
and KICKS, n has trouble to realize
that che is not in dreamland.
The only sign Of decay, if decay in
deed it can he called, is the presence Of
vegetation where itNoald not have been
tolerated had the place been inhabited.
Perhaps nowhere in the Deccan has ma
ture been % quick in Identifying the
ToTls Ct man. She has covered the
walls Nith ereepers and fowe1s, planted
%bq r~q---t. With ct,rF7x- .sY1,-.. e--1 l,,-,a