AN INDIAN HOLIDAY

Evening Star, Issue 21722, 17 May 1934, Page 15

AN INDIAN HOLIDAY

THE MINOR COMMUNITIES At Delhi and Agra we are in the centre of Mogul civilisation (writes “ C.E.5.,” in the ‘ West Australian ’). From 1526 to 1707 this wonderful dynasty ol six successive emperors ruled with extraordinary splendour and strength over a large part of India, and the “ Great Mogul ” won the admiration of all travellers from Europe, i visited forts and palaces, mosques and tombs, and felt that the skill and culture of those Moselm autocrats did not suffer in comparison with the contemporary Tudors and Stuarts in England. At Fatipur-Sakri, near Agra, where for some time Akbar held his court, you see the three palaces which that eclectic soul built for his three wives, one a Hindu, one a Mohammedan, and one a Christian queen. 'The Taj Mahal, which I visited morning, noon, and evening, is perhaps the most beautiful building in the world. It was built in 16.‘iU by the Emperor Shall Julian to be the tomb of his favourite queen, the elect of the palace, as the name implies. The tomb of the great emperor and his wife is enclosed by a trellised screen of white marble, and everywhere there is the most lovely mosaic work in the softest colours and the most graceful designs. After a pretty severe course of Hindu temples and their worship, a traveller from the south will always, I think, feel the strong appeal. of the Mohammedan religion, its simplicity, gravity, unity, and strength. Whatever the defects and limitations of Islam, there is a healthy sanity which makes one appreciate and sympathise with the sturdy protest of the Prophet himself against the idolatry of his day. .In Bombay I had tea with a Mohammedan judge and his family. As wo sat on tlie vorandan of his luxurious house, he apologised that he and his wife would be unable to join me at tea. ‘ You see. it is Ramadan, and wo are keeping the fast. 1 ’ 1 asked for more instruction on the subject. “We rise.” he said, “at o a.in. and take our meal. After that wo take no lond or drink until 6 in the evening, when our religion compels us to eat and drink.'’ “ Do you find that the work of the community suffers at the time of the fast?” I asked. “ Yes,” replied my host. ‘ I have noticed a certain languidness! But the corresponding spiritual benefit quite outweighs this. Also in many places Mohammedan employers get the work begun in the early morning and give a complete break to their workmen in the hirer morning and early afternoon.” WOMEN JN MOSQUES. 11 Why are no women present in your mosques?”. “ In certain mosques women do have a special portion allotted to them, but I admit this is a weakness in our svsteni. I myself believe the Prophet intended women to have a much more public position. He has been misinterpreted.” “ Ho you regard the Koran as verbally inspired?” “ For myself, 1 do not. The inspira tion was the central message of the man, not the chance words lie used. To grasp this, you should road the Koran m chronological order. For instance, take the first fifty chapters as given in your English ‘ Everyman ' edition, and read straight through. The substance of our faith is in that.” When I asked him what he thought of Margoliouth’s book upon the Prophet my host answered: “ .1 do not like the man. although he is very learned. He is unfair and disparages ■ the holy Prophet. You must know that oven at the height of his powers the Prophet was distinguished by a wonderful humility. For instance, when shaking hands even with the humblest be would never be the first to let go the other’s hand." Of the Buddhist religion there arcnow only some 10,000,000 adherents in India. Under the reign of the great Anoka in the third century n.c. 'Buddhist influence spread over all India and nearly superseded Hinduism, from which it had sprung; but the tenacity of the Brahmins prevailed. They have the wisdom of the serpent not always accompanied by the hannlcssness of the dove! After many centuries the Buddha was pronounced the final incarnation of Vishnu, but Buddhism itself was driven from India! 1 visited Sarnath, near _ Benares, where the It u chi ha preached his first sermon after his enlightenment, and later on I found my way to the Ajantii Caves, where in a quiet valley there is a .number of Buddhist shrines hewn out of the rock, with cells for the monks and wonderful carvings of the life of the Buddha, his temptation, his enlightenment, and his teaching. One feels a calm and tranquility, a cleanness and simplicity pervading these relics of the new faith which breathed revival long ago into the dry bones of Hinduism. Buddhism has long since retired south to Ceylon and Burma and north to China and Japan, it may be doubted whether southern Buddhism is. properly speaking, a “ religion ” at all. 1 had an interesting conversation in Colombo with a professor of Buddhist theology. I asked him what was the chief difference between the creed of the Hindu and that of the Buddhist. Ho replied: “ ’That is easy to answer. Our own superiority to the Hindu religion—the foundation of our whole faith is twofold; wc believe in the non-exist-ence of God and the non-existence of the human soul. It is on these two great facts that our holy religion is built.” I wondered if 1 had heard him aright.- But I had! JAINS AND PAUSEES. A final word jibout three other small communities with which I made contact in India. There are the Jains, who carry to such lengths their belief in the sanctity of life that they will nut even cat certain vegetables which grow from the ground, and their priests and monks wear veils upon the month lest, perchance, they should offend against this religious obligation and swallow a fly or mosquito. The Parsecs, who number only a little over 100,000, have an inlluence out of all proportion to their numbers. As their name suggests, they were formerly inhabitants of Persia. ' They wore followers of Zoroaster, one of the greatest teachers of antiquity, and they migrated from Persia to 'preserve their faith at the time of the Mohammedan invasions. They worship God under the emblem of fire, whether in the sun or .in the sacred fires kept burning at their temples. They consider the elements of fire and earth so sacred that they will neither burn nor bury their dead, and I visited the ’towers of Bjlenco at Bombay, where they lay their dead until the vultures have demolished the mortal remnants; then the bones arj cast into a common well, where the dust ol tiigh and low, rich and poor mingles inclistinguisliably. The Parsecs are a wealthy people and have exceptionally high standards in education and philanthropy. Tile Anglo-Indian (Eurasian) community is another small island in the vast Indian population. This is a somewhat pathetic community of some 200,000 people—children born of an English lather and Indian .mother, or descended Irom such unions. They artregarded with some distaste bv the Indian people, as disloyal (;o their J.ndi;iu

heritage. They arc somewhat despised by the British". They occupy subordinate posts on the railways and in other Government offices, and there are few leaders amongst them. When I was in Bombay Sir Henry Gidney, the head of the community, published an important letter urging the Anglo-Indian community no longer to look chiefly to their Father England, but to their Mother India. There does not, however, seem much probability that they will follow his advice. 1 went over the Anglo-Indian schools at Poona, splendidly organised by the Anglican Church. 1 gathered that the chief ambition of an Anglo-Indian family :s that in successive generations the Indian strain, both in colour and culture, may be gradually eliminated. The position of these people is isolated; their future is not very rosy, and they deserve sympathy and consideration.