Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 January 1912 — Witnessed Durbar in Honor of Royal Family. [ARTICLE]

Witnessed Durbar in Honor of Royal Family.

By Glenn Wishard, Y. M. C. A. Missionary to India.

The foilowing interesting Tetter is from Glenn Wishard, who, with his wife, are now in India, where they went in a missionary capacity, .his work being under the direction of the Y. M. C. A. of 'this country. The letter was written to his mother, Mrs. Jennie L. Wishard, who has permitted The Republican to publish it, and we are sure all our readers and especially his friends will find it very interesting and instructive. . - Agra, India, Dec. 9, 1911. Great Northern Hotel. India is a strange and intensely interesting country and there may be something about which we can write in such a manner as to interest friends at home. Fortunately for us, we landed in Bombay, India, on the" day previous to the arrival of their majesties, the King and Queen of Efigland. The city was decorated in fitting manner, the illuminations at night being the best we have ever seen. Our hosts were good enough to give us their tickets, which admitted us to the amphitheatre, where we could see the formal reception given by the people of Bombay to and Queen Mary. The reception was formal and hearty, but not as enthusiastic a one as would be given by v us to our president. There was little cheering as the King and procession passed the hundreds of thousands of Indians who filled the streets. Not because the King and Queen were not welcome to India but because, so the papers tell us, the eastern people do not know how to show their enthusiasm as the western people do. Anyhow, it was a great event as this is the first time an English king has visited India as king. In fact, it is the fir st time an English king has left Europe since the 12th century, when Richard Cour de Lion went on a crusade to the Holy Land. On the 7th of December their majesties made their entry into Delhi, the ancient capital of India, and the place wherednthel2ththeyare~ttrbe crowned King-Emperor and QueenEmpress of Widia. This is the greatest of all events for India, especially great this time because the King .and Queen are present in person and not represented by some members of the royal family, as at all previous durbars. Nothing preventing, we shall be in Delhi on this occasion. Last Friday we arrived here at Agra, a place of great interest to travelers because of the beautiful mosques, tombs and palaces located here. As soon as we had settled at this hotel, which by the way, is a very commodious as we have three rooms, bedroom, pressing room and bath with any number of servants to wait upon us, and the best meals we have had since we left London, all for about $2.35 each per day. We drove to the Taj Mahal, in order to see it by moonlight We should say at this point that so many servants to wait upon us is not what we should choose if we had the opportunity for choice, but we have not. Here, where it is so warm, the bedrooms are always large and are always, adjoined by a large bathroom which, ytui may be interested to know, contains only a small tin bathtub and a large cup with which you are supposed to pour the water over your body. Servants are cheap and therefore numerous. A good cook (always a man) may receive as much as fifteen rupees ($5). a month, out of which he must provide his own bear’d and room. But to return to the Taj Mahal. It is said to be, and I am ready to believe it, the most beautiful building in the world. This mausoleum or “Crown Lady’s Tomb,” was commenced in 1630 by the emperor Shah-Jehan. We are told that it took twenty thousand men seventeen years to erect this tomb, and after seeing the Taj, that does not seem to be exaggeration. The cost is by some estimated to be six and by some ten million dollars.. These facts may be interesting bit they will give you no idea of the beauty of the Taj. I may say that it stands in the center of a platform, faced with white marble, with a white minaret at each corner 133 feet high, exactly 313 feet square and 18 feet high,, that the tomb itself is 186 feet square, that the principal dome is 58 feet in diameter and 80 feet in height, that the entire structure is not as large or a£ tall as the Rensselaer court house? and yet I have not described the marvelbus effect it makes upon one as he looks -from a distance or close at hand upon this dazzling

white marble structure unlike anything to be seen in the world. By moonlight it appears to be pure white, by sunlight a rich cream color. The Taj is pleasing beyond all description for two reasons according, to _my notion. First, because of the symmetry, it is exactly square, all sides are exactly alike, there are no fussy ornamentations, the syle of architecture is plain and unique, and second, because it is all of pre white marble, cause it is all pure white marble, most wonderfully carved and inlaid with precious only light that reaches the interior comes from immense slabs of marble delicately carved. Around the marble caskets of the Shah and his favorite wife is a railing of carved marble, each section at least six by ,ten feet square, so delicately carved that at a distance it gives the appearance of coarse lace. Perhaps the greatest marvel of the Taj is the immense amount of inlaid work, Lotus flowers we saw, the blossoms of which contained 32 pieces of stone no larger than the natural petals. One flower or a hundred would not be so marvelous but there are literally thousands of

them, made of carnelian, jasper, topaz, sapphire, agate and emerald. And then a large amount of heiroglyphics made by black marble inlaid in the white. One stands dumfounded as he looks at t£e vast amount of inlaid work and carving on this one building and tries to imagine the days and days of patient labor that must have been spent upon its construction. One can not but think oUlhe temple of Solomon and wonder if it was so magnificent. I very much doubt if any building ever has or ever will be erected with a greater expenditure of human toil. Enough of the Taj. You may be more interested to hear of the durbar held at Delhi, the ancient capital of India, which it was our privilege to see. You may have read about this most important of all events for India, how the state entry was made on the sth of December and bow the durbar itself took place on the 12th and how the state exit occurred on the 15th and how between these days various social and official functions took place. We were in Delhi only, two days, the 11th and 12th, but as the 12th was the great event and as we secured good seats in the spectators’ mound, we were satisfied, Monday we spent riding around over this city of tents, where Rajahs, Native Chiefs, LieutenantGovernors, etc., were quartered in

true oriental splendor. I believe I am safe in saying that it was the tent city that has ever been known. In India it is the same as in the United States, one may pass quickly from scenes of extreme poverty to those of magnificent luxury. My letter grows long. I must hasten to say that as I stepped into the amphitheatre on Tuesday my eyes fell upon the most wonderful sights I have ever ■ seen, that is, where the people make up the picture. There were said .to be 50,000 people in an open amphitheatre, 20,000 in a covered amphitheatre, while 20,000 soldiers in full dress uniform stood in the open space between. That many people gathered together in the States would make a great sight but here it makes a picture beyond comparison. There were masses of green, patches of yellow, and then white with spots of red everywhere—the most lavish profusion of colors imaginable. The Indians wear such bright colors that one never grows tired of looking at a great crowd of them. And then the troops in red coats and white helmets, others in dark colors, each carrying a small pennant. Others, Indian troops with red turbans, and so pn, all in line—2o,ooo of them—I can not describe the beauty of it all. The ceremony was not very interesting, so I shall not write more about the durbar. We are enjoying India and send a greeting to all our -friends.. GLENN P. WISHARD.