Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-03-07
IN THE RAJPU ANA
Prosperity and Civilization
Have Advanced Rapidly.
TEMPLES AT MOUNT ABU
COLUMNS SHOW THE MOST EX-
QUISITE CARVED MARBLE.
Luxurious Lives of the Native Princes
in the College Near
rsISt5,~ Jeypore.
TEMPLES AT MOUNT ABU
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS.

JEYPORE. India. February IL. 1904
In India, as everywhere, the climate and
physical features of the country have eN-
ercised a sharp and lasting influence upon
the race who live therein. The noblest
characters the brave, the strong. the en-
during and the progressive come from the
north where the air is keen and encourages
activity, while those who dwell in the
south have hereditary physical and moral
lassitude The geographical names are ty-
pical of the people. They all mean some
thing and have poetical and oftentimes
a political significance. THE Mountains of
Strength" encompass plateau called THE
Abode of Princes" and beyond and behind
them stretches a desert called the Region
of Death"
This country is called the Rajputana-
pronounced Raashpootana-and Is COM
posed of the most interesting of all the ma
tive states of India, twenty in number, with
area of 10000 square miles and pop
ulation of more than 12.0W,0O0. They are
the only part of the empire where ancient
political institutions and ancient dynasties
survive, and their preservation is due TO
the protection of the British authorities.
Each prince is the hereditary head of a mil
ftary clan, the members of which are All
descended from common ancestor and for
centuries have been the lords of the soil.
Many of the families are Mohammedans,
T,
their loyalty, their independence and love
of the truth These characteristics, l con
tend, are largely due to the climate and the
topography of the territory in which they
live.
Temple on the Mountain Top.
Mount Abu, the sacred Olympus of west
India. a huge heap of granite rising
$3.50 feet above the sea. is in the center of
this country. 1t is called the Pinnacle of
the Saints and upon its summit may be
found the highest ideals of Indian ecclesias-
teal architecture in a group of five marble
temples erected by peace-lovinS and life
protecting jams. the Quakers of the east.
These temples were built about a thousand
years ago by three brothers, pious mer-
chant princes. Vimala Sab, Tejpala and
Vastupala. The material was carried more
than 800 miles over mountains and across
plains-an undertaking worthy of the
arcient Egyptians. The columns and pill
lars, the cornices, the beams that support
the roofs the arches of the gateways,
windows and doors, the stills and lintels,
the frieZes and wainscoting, all of the
purest and daintiest marble, were chiseled
by artists of race whose creed pro-
nounces patience to be the highest virtue,
whose progenitor lived 100000 years, and
to whom a century is but day.
The purpose of the prayers of these peo-
pie is to secure divine assistance in the
suppression of all worldly desires, to SUBJ
due selfishness, to lift the soul above sordid
thoughts and temptations. Therefore they
built their temples amid the most beautiful
scenery they could find. They made them
cool and dark because of the heat and glare
of this climate, with wide porticoeS over
hanging caves that shut out the sunshine
and make the interior one great refreshing
shadow tempting the warm and weary to
enter the cool twilight for all the light
they have is filtered through screens made
of great sheets of fine-grained marble, per-
forated with tracery and foliage designs as
delicate Brussels lace.
center wonderful
Of sculpture, surrounded by a forest of
carved columns, which in the minuteness
and beauty of detail stand almost unrivaled
even in this land of lavish labor and mex
hauStible patience. sits the image OF
Parswanatha. the god of peace and plenty,
divinity that encourages love and gentle
ness and truth, to whom these temples were
dedicated. He Is seated upon exquisite
platform of alabaster, with legs crossed
and arms folded, silent and immova BILE
gagged in the contemplation of the good and
beautiful and his lips are wreathed in a
smile that comprehends all human beings
and will last throughout eternity
Around this temple. as usual with the
jams. is a cloister-a wide colonnade sup
ported by double row of pillars. There
are fifty-fve cells opening upon 1t, but in
stead of being occupied by monks or
priests. IN each OF them, upon throne OF
lotus leaves, sits an exact miniature dupIi-
cate of the image of the same god in the
same posture, with the same expression Of
serene and holy calm.
about placing fresh flowers before these
idols, and in the temple was a group of
dusty tired hungry, half-naked and sore
footed pilgrims, who had come a long way
with packs their backs bearing their
food and seeking no shelter but the shade
OF temple or trees Here 1T last they
found rest and relief and consolation, and
Ii seems beautiful religion that REQUIRES
nothing more from its devotees
Most Exquisite Carved Marble
H.
the dome Of this temple have been pro-
nounced the most exquisite examples OF
carved marble in existence. and the high
est authority on indian architecture de-
clares that the dome lin richness of orna-
ment and delicacy of detail is probably I'M
surpassed in the world
Facing the entrance to the temple is a
square building or portico containing nine
large white elephants, each carved from a
monolith of marble. Originally they all
had riders. intended TO repre- sent Vimaia
Sab. the Jain merchant, AMI his family
going in procession to worship, but several
OF the figures have been broken entirely
away and others have been badly DANA ged
and cloisters, are said to have cost Sg0,e0O,-
900 and TO have occupied fourteen years in
building, from 1882 to 1919 A ID.
Mount Abu Is the headquarters of the
Rajputana administration, the hot weather
station for the British troops and the IA
vorite summer resort OF the European colo.
MES OF western India. The mountain IS
covered with weil-made roads, winding
among the forests, and picturesque bride
paths. There are many handsome villas
belonging TO officials and private citizens,
barracks schools, asylums clubs and other
modern structures.
In several of the larger cities OF the prov
fnce can be found temples similar to those
i have described; some of them of Sara
Genie architecture, equal TO that of the Al
hambre or the Persian palaces. The pure
Hindu designs differ from the Saracenic as
widely as the Gothic from the Romanesque.
but often you find a mixture embracing the
strongest features OF both. The rich and
the strong gave expression to their own
sense of beauty and taste when by the cree
ton Of these temples they sought to honor
and glorify the gods to whom they pray.
Ajmere, the Winter Capital.
Ajmers. the winter capital of the gov