Tara: A Mahratta Tale

by Meadows Taylor

  CHAPTER LXXII.

  The servants and attendants of the lady awaited her without, andpreceded her to the temple, which was situated in a court by itself,--asmall unpretending building, which her son had built at her request.The usual priests sat by the shrine, feeding the lamps with oil, andoffering flowers and incense for those who needed their services. This,too, had been a busy day for them, for the Rajah's temple had beenopened to those who came to the fort; and many a humble offering anddonation of copper coins to the priests, from the soldiery, had beenthe result. The court had now been cleared of all visitors, and thedoors shut. As the lady advanced and sat down before the shrine, thepriests made the customary libations and offerings, and stood apart,not daring to speak, for her visions of the goddess were well known,and much feared, and this might be the occasion of one of them. So, asshe sat down, the priests and her attendants shrank back behind theentrance to the sanctum, and awaited the issue in silence.

  Very different from Tara, as she had sunk down in her strange deliriumbefore the shrine at Tooljapoor, the Maha Ranee, as she was called,but more simply and lovingly the "Lady Mother," was perfectly calmand self-possessed. A small, grey-headed, slightly-formed woman, ofgraceful carriage and shape, which had altered little, if at all,from the best period of her youth: nor, except in her hair, had ageapparently told much upon her: for the arms were still as round, theskin of her cheek as soft and downy as ever, and the firm springy treadof the small naked foot showed no decline of vigour. Her son often toldher she was yet the most beautiful woman in Maharastra; nor indeed, inthe clear golden olive of her skin, in the delicate mould and sweetexpressive character of her features, above all, in the soft lustre ofher eyes, had she many rivals.

  She had seated herself directly before the shrine, on which was asmall gold image of the goddess upon a golden pedestal; and thewater-vessels, lamps, and other articles of service were also of gold.The full light of the lamps within shone out on her, and glistenedon the white silk garment she wore, with its broad crimson and goldborder--upon the jewelled bracelets on her arms--and the large pearlsabout her neck. The end of her saree, heavy with gold thread, hadfallen a little aside as she seated herself, and her soft throat, anda little of the crimson silk bodice below, could be seen--enough toshow that if the face were calm, the bosom was heaving rapidly, andunder the influence of no common emotion. No one dared to speak toher, or interrupt her thoughts or prayers, whatever they might be; andwhen she seated herself before the shrine in this manner, the priestsand attendants knew she expected a "revelation," and had to wait, eventhough it might be for many hours, for the issue.

  When it came, it was with various effect. At times calm, withglistening eyes and throbbing bosom, her hands clenched convulsively,she would speak strange words, which were heard with a mysteriousreverence, and recorded by an attendant priest; at others, theresult was wild delirium, when they were obliged to hold her, andwhen the excitement was followed by exhaustion, which remained fordays.[14] Now, however, she sat calmly, her eyes cast down, but raisedoccasionally with an imploring look to the image, seldom altering herposition, and seemingly unconscious of the time which passed.

  Long she sat there; the shadows of the mountains lengthened, till onlytheir peaks shone like fire, and then suddenly died out. The moon rose,and the little court was white under her silver beams, and still thelady sat and moved not. The chill night breeze at that elevation hadcaused an involuntary shiver to pass over her, which her favouriteattendant thought was the precursor of the usual affection, but nothingfollowed; and seeing it was caused by cold, had, apparently unobserved,cast over her a large red shawl, which fell in soft folds round herperson. It was far in the night when she arose from that strange vigil;and, dreamily passing her hands over her face and neck as if to arouseherself, sighed, and advancing to the threshold of the shrine, joinedher hands together, and bowing reverently before the image, saluted it,and silently turned away.

  "Not to-night, Bheemee," she said to a woman who approached her bearingher sandals, and laid them down at the entrance to the temple,--"notto-night. The Mother bids me go; she is sad, and will come anothertime. Hark! what is what?" and she paused to listen.

  A hoarse roar, a cry as though of a wail of thousands of voices, camefrom all sides at once, floating up the precipices, echoed from therocks, and reverberating from mountain to mountain. It seemed to thosepresent, who were already filled with superstitious expectation, as ifspirits cried out, being invisible, and that some unearthly commotionwas in progress around them. In the pure mountain air, still as itwas, these sounds seemed to float about them mysteriously, now dyingaway, and now returning more faintly than before, till they ceased,or only a confused perception of them remained. The fierce shout orwail, however, occurred but once; what followed was more diffuse andundecided.

  "Something has moved the people more than ordinarily, lady," said apriest who advanced from the outer court. "The assembly can be seenfrom the bastion yonder, and I have been watching it while you werewithin; if you would look, follow me."

  She drew the shawl more closely around her, and went with him throughthe court to the bastion, which, situated on the edge of an angle ofthe precipice, commanded a view of the town and valley below. The moonshone clear and bright, else she had looked into a black void; but theair was soft and white, of a tint like opal, as the moon's rays caughtthe thin vapours now rising. Some thousands of feet below, was a brightspot in a dell, filled with torches, which sent up a dull smoke, whilethey diffused a bright light on all around. There were many thousandsof people there, mostly men, and there was a glitter as of weaponsamong them, as the masses still heaved and swayed under the influenceof some strange excitement. She could make out no particular forms, butshe knew that her son sat in the pavilion at the end, and about thatthere was no movement. As she looked, the shout they had first heardarose more clearly than before--"Hur, Hur, Mahadeo! Donguras-lavileDeva!"[15]

  "O Mother," she cried, stretching out her arms to the sky, and then tothe dell below, "enough! thou hast heard the prayer of thy daughter:thou wast there with him, not with me. Now I understand, and it isenough. Come, Bheemee, it is cold," she said, after a pause, and in herusual cheerful voice, "thou shouldst have been yonder in the Kutha,girl, and all of you. Well, the next, to-morrow night, will be a betterone, and you shall all go, for I will go myself with the Maharaja; comenow, they will not return till daylight;" and descending the stepsof the bastion, she followed her servants, who preceded her, to theprivate apartments.

  Below, Sivaji had been busy since before sunset. He had descended themountain on foot, attended by his body-guard, and a large company ofthe garrison of the fort--a gay procession, as, accompanied by thepipers and horn-blowers of the fortress, it had wound down the ruggedpathway in the full glare of the evening sun; and, amidst the shoutsof thousands, and a confused and hideous clangour, caused by theindependent performances of all the pipers and drummers of the clansassembled--the screaming, quivering notes of the long village horns,the clash of cymbals, and the deep tones of some of the large brasstrumpets belonging to the temple, which had been brought down from thefort,--Sivaji passed on round the village to the spot which had beencleared for the Kutha.

  It was a glen from which all wood had long been cleared away, andshort crisp grass had grown up in its place, which, moistened by theperpetual drainage of the mountain, was always close and verdant. Nearenough to the village to serve as a grazing ground for its cattle, theherbage was kept short by them; and the passage round and round itssides of beasts of all kinds, goats and sheep, cows, bullocks, andbuffaloes, had worn them into paths which formed, as it were, a seriesof steps, rising gradually to the edge of the forest above.

  In the midst was a bright green sward, soft and close, and of someextent, and at all times of the year the resort of the village youthfor athletic exercises--wrestling, leaping, archery, shooting with thematchlock, or, most favoured of all perhaps, the sword-playing forwhich the Mahratta soldiery were almos
t celebrated. A projecting mound,which might have been artificial, and was possibly the partly completedembankment of some intended reservoir, stretched nearly across itsmouth, and while its grassy surface afforded seats to many of thespectators, it shut out the valley beyond, from all observers.

  At the upper end of the dell, which in shape was a long oval, andslightly raised above the level sward, was the Rajah's seat, a platformof sods and earth, covered with dry grass, and then with carpets fromthe fort, upon which the Guddee, or seat of state, was placed. Directlythe Rajah had retired from the morning ceremony, the cushions had beentaken down the mountain and placed on this dais, which afforded roomalso for many personal friends and priests who attended the ceremonywith him.

  In the centre of the sward, but near the upper end, was the place forthe players. The smoothest portion of turf had been selected, andaround it wattled screens were built, made of leafy branches, forentrance and exit, and also to allow of changes of dress, rest duringintervals of performance, and the like. The stage, if it might becalled one, was bounded by wild plantain trees cut off at the root,and set in the ground so that the broad leaves continued fresh andgreen; and above these were twined branches of teak with their largerough foliage, bamboos, and other slender trees readily felled andtransported, while long masses of flowery creepers had been cut fromthe forest, and hung from poles at each side above the players' headsin graceful festoons. Inside all this foliage, were huge cressets ofiron filled with cotton-seed soaked in oil, and all round the areabelow, and especially round the Rajah's seat, similar torches had beenarranged, which would be lighted as the ceremony began, and illuminatethe whole.

  Before the stage, there was a small altar of earth, on which brightlypolished brass vessels for pouring libations were set out, and abovethem, upon a silver pedestal, a small silver image of the goddess hadbeen placed for worship.

  Early in the afternoon, people had begun to assemble there, and afterthe Rajah's arrival in the town, a new procession was formed toaccompany him to the place. Thousands had rushed on before it; alongthe valley, over the shoulders of the mountain, and as best they could,so as to secure good places for the sight; and by the time the head ofthe procession crossed the little brook which bubbled out beneath themound, and ran leaping and tinkling down the valley, and had enteredthe glen,--the whole of its sides and the mound had grown into a densemass of human beings closely packed together. There were comparativelyfew women; those who sat there were for the most part the Rajah'sMawullees and Hetkurees, armed as if for battle, ready, if needed, tomarch thence on any enterprise, however distant or desperate.

  A clear space had been left for the advancing procession. In frontthe Rajah's pipers, playing some of the wild mountain melodies, whichechoed among the woods and crags above, broken now and then by blastsof horns and trumpets, and the deep monotonous beat of many largetambourine drums, the bearers of which were marshalled by the chiefdrummer of the fort, who, with his instrument decked with flowers andsilken streamers, strutted or leaped in front of all, beating a wildmarch. Then followed Brahmuns, bare-headed and naked to the waist,carrying bright copper vessels of sacred water, flowers and incense,with holy fire from the temple on the mountain, chanting hymns atintervals. After them, the players and reciters, male and female, infantastic dresses, wearing gilt tiaras to resemble the costumes seenin carvings of ancient temples, among whom were the jesters or clowns,who bandied bold and free remarks with the crowd, and provoked manya hearty laugh and sharp retort. After these the Rajah's own guard,some with sword and buckler only, others bearing matchlocks withlong bright barrels, who marched in rows with somewhat of militaryorganization; then the servants; and last of all Sivaji himself.Slowly the procession passed up the centre; then the leading portionsof it dividing on each hand, the Rajah, advancing, mounted the smallplatform. Ere he seated himself he saluted the assembly, turning toeach side of it with his hand raised to his head, and all rose towelcome him with clapping of hands and shouts which made the woodedglen and the precipices above, ring with the joyous sound. Then allsubsided into their seats, and the preliminary sacrifices and offeringsbegan.

  FOOTNOTES:

  [14] A series of very curious and most interesting papers on thissubject, by the late Xavier Murphy, Esq., were published some years agoin the "Dublin University Magazine."--M. T.

  [15] "O Mahadeo! the fire has lit the hills!"--the Mahratta invocationto battle which is used also as the heading to all threatening notices.