Indian Antiquary Vol 26

SR No.: 032518
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Richard Carnac Temple
Publisher: Swati Publications
Publication Year: 1984
Total Pages: 360
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 15 MB

Page 134

THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY.
[MAY, 1897.
and Sonårs of Bombay set up over the top of a pole an open umbrella and two cocoanuts.5 In most Hindu marriage processions an open umbrella is held over the bridegroom when he is escorted to the bride's house. Among the Shôlâpur Kômtis, when a married girl comes of age, she and her husband are taken to the temple of a village god with two umbrellas beld over them." At the weddings of the Belgaum Kurubars or shepherds, the boy and girl stand under an umbrella and grains of rice are thrown over them. The tomb of Asad Khan in Belgaum is surrounded by umbrellas and ostrich eggs. In the Bombay Presidency and in Southern India, many Hindu temples have silk umbrellas which on high days are carried over the idols when they are taken out,10 The Kôlhapur title Chhatrapati, or Lord of Umbrellas, is highly valued by the Marathâs, who hold that it belongs only to the descendants of the great Sivaji. The standard of the kings of Calicut was an umbrella.13 An umbrella was held over the king in Egypt, Assyria and Persia.13 The Assyrian umbrella was fringed with tassels and its top adorned with flowers. A long streamer of silk fell on one side. A white umbrella was held over the king of Ceylon at his coronation.15 The king of Burmah carried a white umbrella as a sign of royalty. 16 In China, the umbrella is a token of rank. State umbrellas of the first and second order are adorned with the figure of a gourd.17 In Africa, umbrellas are used only by men of rank.18 The king of Dahomey is accompanied by four white umbrellas, besides parasols which are waved like fans.10 Gilt umbrellas formed part of the show of Roman Catholic dignitaries.20 Pope Alexander the III. allowed the Doge of Venice to have a lighted taper, a sword, and an umbrella borne before him.21
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The following account of the religious element in umbrellas is taken from the Satur day Review: Umbrellas, like lawyers and doctors, are an unfailing source of merriment to the good people who would fain be considered wits, but have neither the natural gift nor the retentive memory which is necessary to support the character. The word "gam p" is sufficient to demand a smile, and the insinuation that umbrellas are the creation of the devil to tempt otherwise honest men, and are as much a legitimate prey to the human race as mice are to cats, or flies to lizards, is an unfailing draw, whether in a comic paper or an after-dinner speech. Old Jonas Hanway little knew, when he brought his umbrella home with him from Persia, and braved the jeers of robust people who rather liked being wetted, what a benefactor he was to the English nation. If every laugh, even when it is but mechanical, draws a nail out of one's coffin, what a clog on the Birmingham nail trade the old traveller has proved! The custom of carrying umbrellas which he introduced, must have done even more good than Magdalene Hospital, of which he was the founder. Umbrellas have come to be put to a variety of purposes now that it is not considered effeminate to use them. They are handy at the cattle show for prodding fat beasts; old ladies signal omnibusses with them; less amiable people find them admirable receptacles for stolen goods; gentlemen with moustaches lay claim to military rank on the strength of carrying them tucked under the left arm; "masbers" do not disdain them if they are rolled up tight and not brought into use and bulginess; some people even employ them for protection against the sun. None of these uses, however, represent the true purpose of the umbrella. It came from the East, and the purposes it is intended to serve are truly oriental. Negro kings do, it is true, masquerade with umbrellas and strut about with much dignity under gaudy expanses of dyed cotton. But negro kings are known to have heterodox notions as to the uses of a good many things belonging to ancient or modern
Information from Mr. P. B. Joshi.
7 Bombay Gazetteer, Vol. XX. p. 70. Op. cit. Vol. XXI. p. 532.
11 Information from Mr. P. B. Joshi.
13 Jones' Crowns, p. 434.
15 Jones' Crowns and Coronations, p. 442.
17 Gray's China, Vol. I. p. 375.
19 Op. cit. Vol. I. p. 315.
21 Jones' Crowns p. 412.
Information from Mr. P. B. Joshi.
Op. cit. Vol. XXI. p. 153.
10 Information from Mr. P. B. Joshi.
12 Badger's Varthema, p. 150,
14 Chambers's Book of Days, p. 241.
16 Op. cit. p. 434.
18 Burton's Visit to Dahomey, Vol. I. p. 43.
20 Yule's Cathay, p. 81.