Ayutthaya

“ But King Paushya was angry with Uttanka because he had taken the earrings of his queen. "No, Uttanka," he answered scornfully. "It is well for a Brahman to call down curses and then turn them to nothing. For a Brahman's heart is as soft as butter even though his words are hard. But a Kshatrya's heart is as hard as steel even though his words, tare soft. I shall not therefore free you from my curse and it will remain with you." Then Uttanka said, "Your curse, O King, will not remain with me. You cursed me because I said that the food set before me was unclean. ”

“ The other men who trailed after—they were none of them very mighty men (for Uya was more cunning than strong, brooking no sturdy rivals) —slackened momentarily at the sight of Ugh-lomi standing there above the willows, bloody and terrible, between them and the halting girl, with the huge antler waving in his hand. It seemed as though he had gone into the water a youth, and come out of it a man full grown.
He knew what there was behind him. A broad stretch of grass, and then a thicket, and in that Eudena could hide. ”

“ Ringed in by a rampart of arid hills, beyond which the scrub-covered desert stretches for miles, the peaceful city of Udaipur lies secluded in an oasis, whose centre is a turquoise lake. High in his palace the Maharana rules in feudal state, and, like Aytoun’s Scottish Cavalier,
“A thousand vassals dwelt around—all of his kindred they,
And not a man of all that clan has ever ceased to pray
For the royal race he loves so well.” ”

“ To suffer, but to show no sign, is the proverb of the true Indian. And yet Astumastao would not admit even to herself that she was deeply in love with Oowikapun. She had treasured the fond conceit in her heart that the one all-absorbing passion with her was that which she had freely revealed to him, and she in her simplicity had honestly believed that no other love could take its place, or even share the room in her heart. ”

“ It may be assumed that when Chao U Thong established his capital at Ayuthia, he could not remove all the people from his old residence, and Khun Hluang Phagnua, the elder brother of the Queen Consort, remained in his old residence, where, in having to look after his own interest, he was appointed Phra Paramaraja to administer the old city. ”

“ Outside the town is an ancient masonry enclosure for the capture of elephants, which is still periodically used. Ayuthia is on the northern main line of the state railways, 42 m. from Bangkok. Great quantities of paddi are annually sent by river and rail to Bangkok, in return for which cloth and other goods are imported to supply the wants of the agriculturist peasantry. There is no other trade. Ayuthia is the chief town of one of the richest agricultural provincial divisions of Siam and is the headquarters of a high commissioner. ”

“ Vela Chow, or the Beautiful Dawn, was the only daughter of a very powerful king of Ayudia. She was so wondrously beautiful that the old Brahmins and astrologers who foretold her birth named her, even before she was born, the Beautiful Dawn, as the only appropriate name for her.
Now it happened that, at the time of Vela Chow's birth, there was no moon to illuminate the fair earth, but the golden sun and the green earth enjoyed a much closer and more intimate friendship than they now do, and old age, sickness, and death were unknown to the blessed and undying people of Ayudia. ”

“ The Ajudhiabāsis numbered nearly 2000 persons in 1911, belonging chiefly to the Jubbulpore, Narsinghpur and Hoshangābād Districts. This total includes any persons who may have returned themselves as Audhia. The Ajudhiabāsis are nearly all Hindus with a small Jain minority. Though Oudh was their original home they are now fairly numerous in Cawnpore and Bundelkhand as well, and it may have been from this last locality that they entered the Central Provinces. Here they form a separate endogamous group and do not marry with their caste-fellows in northern India. ”

“ It is stated, in the Manual of the South Canara district, that “there is an hereditary headman of the caste called the Ayathen, who settles disputes. For trifling faults the ordinary punishment is to direct the culprit to supply so much oil for lights to be burnt before the caste demon.” The Velichapāds, or oracles who become possessed by the spirit of the deity among the Mukkuvans, are called Ayathen, which is probably an abbreviation of Ayuthathan, meaning a sword or weapon-bearer, as the oracle, when under the influence of the deity, carries a sword or knife. ”

“ When, hearing that those heroes have come, will Ayodhyā adorned with standards and garlands, attain fame, with her populace filled with joy? When, seeing those foremost of men returned from the forest, will the city overflow with delight, like the ocean on the occasion of a Parva? When will the mighty-armed hero enter the city of Ayodhyā, placing Sitā" before him on the car,—like unto a bull having his bovine mate before him? When will people by thousands shower fried paddy upon my sons on the road, as those repressors of foes will enter the city? ”

“ The king Udayatunga here has a daughter named Udayavatí, well taught in all the sciences, and he has publicly announced that he will give her to the first Bráhman or Kshatriya who conquers her in argument. And by her wonderful skill in argument she has silenced all other disputants, as by her beauty, which is the theme of the world’s wonder, she has put to shame the nymphs of heaven. You are a distinguished hero, you are a disputant of the Kshatriya caste; why do you remain silent? ”

“ As Uttanka drew near to the throne the courtiers stepped aside. When the boy faced King Paushya, he saluted him most humbly. "O King," he said, "I come to you as a suppliant." "Fair youth," replied the king, "ask me what you will, and, if I can, I will grant it to you." But as the king spoke, his heart sank within him, because he feared that Uttanka had come to beg his queen's earrings. "My Lord," said Uttanka humbly, "I am a pupil of the rishi Veda, and as a fee for his teaching he has asked me to bring him your queen's earrings. ”

“ One of the yearly festivals was the Ayeetha, which affects every trade and calling in India. It is the blessing of the tools, and the offering of a sacrifice to ensure success for the coming year.
There is a legend to the effect that one year a fair and beautiful Mahratta maiden was chosen out of the rest to perform some special and mysterious pujah in the temple. She was very proud of the honour of being the chosen one, and was the envy of all her companions. Each day that passed some ceremony of preparation was performed. ”

“ II.
"It is a strange, wild story which the sahibs shall again hear of the Hunted Tribe and of its leader," began Hassan, as he rested at our feet with his sword gripped in his hand ready to wield it in our service at any moment; "and thus ye will know why the band is out to-night on its fell errand. Years ago, before the Burmese had overrun Siam, and while Ayuthia was its capital, so famous for its pagodas and palaces, Yu Chan became head of the bonzes or priests of the royal monastery. ”

“ They prefer the title of Ajudhyabâsi, or residents of Ajudhya; by outsiders they are usually called Audhiya, or “Oudh men.” They claim to be really Banyas, and say that they emigrated from Ajudhya; but they have no means of fixing the time of their arrival in Fatehpur. One tradition is that their movement was connected with the expedition of Râma Chandra against Lanka or Ceylon.
Divisions. 2. They are divided into two classes—Ûnch or “high,” and Nîch, or “low.” The former are those of pure blood; the latter, the descendants of a woman of another caste, taken as a concubine. ”

“ Ere people come to know this proposal of exile, do thou secure the government of the kingdom unto thyself with me. Who can disturb the installation, Oh Rāghava, myself protecting thee by thy side with my bows, like unto Death himself. If any body stands here as an enemy, surely shall I, Oh best of men, depopulate the whole city of Ayodhyā with sharp arrows. I shall immolate all who shall stand by Bharata or wish him well—certainly mildness brings about discomfiture. If father being propitiated and excited by Kaikeyi, turns out to be our enemy, he shall be slain, without any hesitation. ”

“ Not long after his return to Hastinapur, Yudhi-sthira heard that the old Raja and his wife had lost their lives in a jungle-fire; and soon after this, tidings came to him of the destruction of the city of the Yadavas, the capital of Krishna, in punishment for the dissipation of its inhabitants.
Yudhi-sthira's reign of thirty-six years had been a succession of gloomy events, and he began to grow weary of earth and to long for the blessings promised above. He therefore determined to make the long and weary pilgrimage to Heaven without waiting for death. ”

“ I said. “You forget that I have had no sign, and that the nightmare of a man so near to insanity that but a few hours ago he was determined upon suicide, will be a poor staff to lean on when we are perishing in the snows of Central Asia. A mixed vision, this of yours, Leo, with its mountain peak shaped like a crux-ansata and the rest. Do you suggest that Ayesha is re-incarnated in Central Asia—as a female Grand Lama or something of that sort?” ”

“ JUDEA, ODIA, &c., n.p. These names are often given in old writers to the city of Ayuthia, or Ayodhya, or Yuthia (so called apparently after the Hindu city of Rāma, Ayodhya, which we now call Oudh) , which was the capital of Siam from the 14th century down to about 1767, when it was destroyed by the Burmese, and the Siamese royal residence was transferred to Bangkock [see BANCOCK.]
1522.—"All these cities are constructed like ours, and are subject to the King of Siam, who is named Siri Zacabedera, and who inhabits Iudia."—Pigafetta, Hak. ”

“ One image of Buddha in a sitting posture occupies the place of honour at the far end of the temple, facing the door. The number of smaller images varies considerably from half a dozen to several hundreds. In one of the temples in the old capital of Ayuthia there are over twenty thousand. They are covered all over with gold-leaf, and the eyes of the larger ones are made of mother-of-pearl. Some of the most barbarous laws in the Siamese civil code relate to the profanation of idols. They are never enforced now, and any need for them must at any time have been very small. ”

“ Gladly accepting her invitation, he repeated his visits to her wigwam as often as Indian etiquette would sanction.
One day, when only the three were present, Oowikapun, who had heard from some of the people of the heroic way in which Astumastao had rescued her Uncle Kistayimoowin from a watery grave, asked her to tell him the story.
As a general thing among the Indians, but little reference is made to the dead. The whole thing to them, without any light to illumine the valley of the shadow of death, is so dreadful that they do not mention the word death. ”

“ They conquered the capital of Cambodia and brought back a great many captives to Ayuthia. This Somdet P'ra Rama-T'ibawdee, the first king who reigned in Ayuthia, died in the year 731 or A.D. 1370 in the 56th year of his age and the 20th of his reign, the projenitor of the Siamese monarchs, and was succeeded by four dynasties, embracing thirty-nine kings, the present dynasty representing five kings. ”

“ O mighty monarch, distressed in consequence of the exile of Rāma, men appear sunk in dejection, and elephants and horses are spiritless; and seized with cheerlessness, they utter doleful sounds and heave profound sighs. Ayodhyā appeareth unto me joyless like Kauçalyā deprived of her son." Hearing the words of the charioteer, the king like one exceedingly forlorn, addressed the former in words lost in the vapour of sorrow, "Exhorted by Kaikeyi of a sinful country, born in a sinful race and cherishing sinful designs, I did not take counsel with aged people capable of offering advice. ”

“ A huge old mango tree grows over the street just inside. Udaipur is a white town; the streets are very picturesque, having arcaded bazaars and pretty fantastic balconies here and there, and the native life is of course very varied and full of colour. The main street rises up to the eminence on which the palace stands. At an angle before this is reached, a steep flight of white steps leads up to the gate of the court of the great temple of Juggernath—a Jain temple dedicated to Vishnu—the second person in the Hindu Trinity. ”

“ And then the city of Ujjayini was joyful, full of the sound of festive drums and music, littering shouts of delight. Thus he obtained the mighty rank of a king, and gradually conquered the whole earth, so that his foot was worshipped by all kings, and with Bhadrá for his consort he long lived in happiness with those wives of his, who were content, having abandoned jealousy. Thus resolute men when fortune favours them, find their own valour a great and successful stupefying charm that forcibly draws towards them prosperity. ”

“ Uya shouted, but could not dodge it. It took him under the ribs, heavy and flat, and he reeled and went down without a cry. Ugh-lomi caught up the antler—one tine of it was tipped with his own blood—and came running on again with a red trickle just coming out of his hair.
Uya rolled over twice, and lay a moment before he got up, and then he did not run fast. The colour of his face was changed. Wau overtook him, and then others, and he coughed and laboured in his breath. But he kept on. ”