Life and Travel in India

Fiction & Literature, Literary
Cover of the book Life and Travel in India by Anna Harriette Leonowens, anboco
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Anna Harriette Leonowens ISBN: 9783736416000
Publisher: anboco Publication: September 29, 2016
Imprint: Language: English
Author: Anna Harriette Leonowens
ISBN: 9783736416000
Publisher: anboco
Publication: September 29, 2016
Imprint:
Language: English

In the following pages, gathered from voluminous notes of early travel, I have tried to give a faithful account of life in India, as well as of the sights and scenes visited by me, with my husband, before the days of railroad travel. It is well known that the introduction of the railroad into India has in no sense affected the life of the people, and has only very slightly modified the general appearance of the country. India is still what it was in the Vèdic period, a land of peasant classes; she still invokes, as did the ancient Aryans in the Rig Vèda, the "Khe-tra-pati," or the divinity of the soil, for blessings on the land. The Hindoo to-day lives, as did his forefathers, close to the heart of Nature, deifying the mountains, streams, woods, and lakes, while the sun, moon, stars, fire, water, earth, air, sky, and corn are his highest deities. The most beautiful personification in the Ramâyânâ of womanly grace and virtue is called Sita, "a furrow," showing how deep was the national reverence paid to the plough; and to this day at the Rathsaptimi, the day on which the new sun is supposed to mount his heavenly chariot, a feast is observed in honor of the sun, and the ryots on this occasion decorate with flowers and paint their ploughs, and worship them as the saviors of the land. I do not, however, mean to say that India has made no progress whatever in all these years—her imaginative and glorious youth has no doubt been succeeded by the calm reason of mature age—but this transition has been gradual and progressive rather than fitful and sudden.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In the following pages, gathered from voluminous notes of early travel, I have tried to give a faithful account of life in India, as well as of the sights and scenes visited by me, with my husband, before the days of railroad travel. It is well known that the introduction of the railroad into India has in no sense affected the life of the people, and has only very slightly modified the general appearance of the country. India is still what it was in the Vèdic period, a land of peasant classes; she still invokes, as did the ancient Aryans in the Rig Vèda, the "Khe-tra-pati," or the divinity of the soil, for blessings on the land. The Hindoo to-day lives, as did his forefathers, close to the heart of Nature, deifying the mountains, streams, woods, and lakes, while the sun, moon, stars, fire, water, earth, air, sky, and corn are his highest deities. The most beautiful personification in the Ramâyânâ of womanly grace and virtue is called Sita, "a furrow," showing how deep was the national reverence paid to the plough; and to this day at the Rathsaptimi, the day on which the new sun is supposed to mount his heavenly chariot, a feast is observed in honor of the sun, and the ryots on this occasion decorate with flowers and paint their ploughs, and worship them as the saviors of the land. I do not, however, mean to say that India has made no progress whatever in all these years—her imaginative and glorious youth has no doubt been succeeded by the calm reason of mature age—but this transition has been gradual and progressive rather than fitful and sudden.

More books from anboco

Cover of the book Glaciers of the Rockies and Selkirks by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book Dorothy Dale in the West by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book Captain Carey or Fighting the Indians at Pine Ridge by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book Fifteen Thousand Useful Phrases by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book The Autobiography of Goethe by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book De L'Orme by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book Guy Fawkes; or, The Gunpowder Treason: An Historical Romance by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book The Jungle Book by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book The Busy Life of Eighty-Five Years of Ezra Meeker by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book The Boston Dip by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book Ulysses by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book As It Was Written by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book Honor Bright by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book Tales of the Caravan, Inn, and Palace by Anna Harriette Leonowens
Cover of the book The Wolf-Leader by Anna Harriette Leonowens
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy