THE SPLENDOURS OF A DURBAR.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 300, 9 December 1911, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE SPLENDOURS OF A DURBAR.

> HOW THEIR MAJESTIES ’-7IJ.T, BE YYEL(’OMI’I) IX THE JXItIAX i EMPIRE "The most gorge.ms sper-taclo the world has over seen.’' Such was th" description, nearly ti-n years ago, of I King Edward's Coronation Durbar; but it is said that all the splendours which then dazzled the eyes of the most piig-ennt-loving Indian potenlates will 1.completi ly < ■ :ip... .| Ly the Durbar of which Delhi \. ill soon lie the scene. You n:ay search the who!,, world through without finding a site more appropriate than Delhi for such pageants as will blaze forth in India during De-cemle-r. 1 hrolled en a hill commanding the brand waters of the Jumna, girdled Ly_ her strong walls willi tm-ir fen imposing gateunys. the nn'-i.mt capital of the Mogul Empire I'pitumisi all Hi" magnificence and dignity of the Eastern world. DELIGHTFUL DELHI. It is a city of stately oalaces, ninsg'lcs, and Jmm-ri;>l tombs. Over the cut rance to one vast grouii of palaces, «hose carving and exquisite inlai. - work are the worrier and envy of the world, is inscribed the proud ',o i.C If tlw-ro is Heaven on earth, it vs th'. — it is tliis. ’’ Aionn-i the Imp - ..>; ( it-,-is a green girlie of gron-s a id g-i-.!eit = , lovclv as a dr.-am; and 'ici •; 'g f ■ -ring domes- and minarets look over tl - Irsterm “ridge,’ crowned w-ib inn?'-. ..- i, of Iho Mutin'-, on a pro, •>.st of I;.'■d ’•.-tolling woods and richly-cultivated I'H’-’s. 1 Such is the setting of the scries of I magnificent pageants. <d which Georg*’ I Y., Emperor and King, will bo the j dominant figure wlu-n his Indian suh- | .loots flock, in all their many-hued gnr- ! gcousness, to pay him homage. : the outskirts of Delhi u ii] i-i,,- a tent- ■ er| city, more sumptuous in its equipi meat than the historic “field of gold” i —a camp which will have a population t a quarter of a million persons, molu iing all the gi-oafcsf in our Eastern Empire—Rajah and Maharnjab. Xiz.-im and Begum, with all their gorgems rctiniii-s. Governors < f provinces, an I an army of high officials.

M A G NTITCEXT PA G EA NTS. The camp, we arc told prornically, '.will Im sorv-d by thirty miles of brj.ul an! t ••■;■•!■■ o miles of narrow,--gai’g.'. raii- «•:•••; and for its use there will 1»«s thirty-on- post ;,ml ton t<’b-gr:iph of- '. From I),ecm!..r 7t!i. when their Afritesties will make their Import?! entry into Delhi, to ho greeted bv thunder: of artillerv and the homage of th- A icoioy. Governors. and native pi.iieos, to the 1 <‘th of the month, odion tliev '.'•ill malto toeir stately farewell progress through the city, the ihr-i '.will bo a march of snoli p.ngonntrv ns even India lias never scon, cnlrnin.'iting on the with the Durbar, the groat State reci’ption. in v.hi.-’i 100 00') ir r-s-n- will fd,.' part. .Alagnifioont as have bon the preceding pageants--from the Regal progress t > the Ridge, where, surrounded hr r'.-i'hitic riemorinls of India's darkest h’; :r t’.et of the Mu’inv- King George , d r. i civo sime, .«cj ( . n r ,f pr.jvinci.d >■< ;a n!at >v--; end give courteous anf„ t} lr ml,1’■esses, to tlm nrc-”r-n’)ng of colours to British and Jn-li in re’diiwnfD.irh":r ■■ ill l.f izo forth. the sitn in hi- spl- ndonr pal< s ;<II b ’ser I'tminnri. s. line can form .a fairlv nrr'irntn mental picture of flis Afni.-stv nt the-, •mpremo nmn—nt from that premn’ed ■■l b’s Roval fatimr on a similar oc■••a J ti a ■-■ n.-rati ,n :'”o. “Hi-. R<,v:d f ’ i fold, "wore a fi, ld-rrwr-JinV ■: uniform al■;■ .-.ct c.-im-oaleA beneath th.' fohl', of Io- slcv-bbie satdrr manU”. and the train of' which wn-« ' irii.-d by two n n al ah, wire ..I hats o-. ci" t!H"ir >.<>, b-r.-d wigs. big > satin cloaks. I r.;id;-ho='"'', and sho-a with i-osei;. Th"' Hovel tent v.-as t-d v. i':: ."loth of g : 1. v. :’h tlm If ■.’.•i.' arms . :n’.'.izi>::od in the coat;-’.” Afn.i.inx' the king. EMPEiIOIf. T’lim. or similarly, nrr.avrd. the K:rigr ■—’■!" r->r v-. 11. cm tins niigiTst J’v. recriv.. the forma! h'.nmge <f ♦'n- gr. it pi inc, 4 and <.f-i,■ i : Js r-f bi-. Indian Empire — re pros- mi ative cf 3>M.o.r 'i.ti;In st;bicii"!•-. st“'aking a hundred t 'mva.'s and.''i.".h'cts. an ! spread '."’'er a a of one an ! three-quart er n.d!i,>n '’Ciaro t'J’-s. it. : him " ill e:’-* in long and ■’••.;•- -dirg nrorf'«; ,n. with their retinues, r!-'"-.rd in all 'lie e,f the r.n’’;b'CV O" 1 ;>!<! ieO V. I’. Il p d”” mwe'e ■•’l : ’ r- r'i! rs of In!’.?. Th" G.iekw.ar of Baroda. ruler i.t ,t ' '"'■’b-n larger than Saxonv. wearing ioweh valued at a million p.».:nrl«: the Mn’mrnmh Rann of Dhnlptir. smothered in bis twelvefold collar, and ropes of matchless pearls, the finest ir the

world; tho Xizam of Hyderabad, lord of a. realm nearly twice as large as England, with nn army of 3H.OfKI men athis beck and call;’ the Maharajah of Jaipur, who traces his proud pedigree through 1 Iff generations ; the Maharajah of ilysore ; the Begum of Bhopal, veiled and swathed in brocades and sillis, over which is folded the lightblue satin robe of tho Star of India., and a long array of other native potentates. all equally magnificent in the glory of Hashing, many-hued gems and .".armonts. READING THE PROCLAMATION. From each of those potentates, followed by Governors, chiefs, and higliplaocd officials. King George will receive the homage that is due, with gracious bows and kingly words; while around the Imperial tent, far as eye enn see. will stretch a dense crowd of cheering spect a tors —a ga ily-colou red parterre of humanity whoso many hni-s dazzle tile eyes under the blaze of the Eastern sun. Tin*, ceremony over, their Majesties will malto their stately way to a still more snlend'd nnvilion in the cent)-" of tho vast arena ; tho proclamation c>i tho King-Emperor will Ke read ; and amid the thunders of a hundred guns, tho blare of trumpets, and the deafening cheers of the vast multitude he will lie ao'-l limed supremo rub-r of three hundred millions of tho East. A State banquet and a reception, each on a sral<- of equal magnificence, will bring to a close a daw of greater glory than even India, that land of splcnd-iur, has ever seen.