Today I received this extract via email, and I would like to share it with you as it depicts the beauty of this hill station through the eyes of this historical writer.
Agent to the Governor-General For Rajputana
Col. Trevor has extracted this from ''The Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan'' by Col James Tod. 1829 To read more click on the link
Rhymes of Rajputana
Mount Abu
Olympus is the hill, from age
Unknown it has been sacred ground;
Rishis and Munis, gods and sages
Dwelt in these woods and rocks around
And now perchance when earthquake rumbling
Goes muttering thro' the mountain-side
It may be some old god a-grumbling
At want of worship, wounded pride.
Yet superstition, which by horror
And promise long has reigned supreme,
Brings thousands yearly to Dilwarra,
Whose temples surely are a dream:
A dream beyond all comprehension
Of art that e'en a Goth might saint;
No wonder if they draw attention
To lore and legend growing faint.
The worship of the Jain who raised them
Has now diminished thro' the land,
But pilgrims who have come and praised them
Are not required to understand.
The White man smiles and from a guide book chatters
Of Vishnu, Parasn'ath,of Brahman,Jain;
The brown one looks on worship, faith,as matters
Ordained for each race by a different sign.
Whether he climb to trace in cave or high nook
The footsteps of some deity, or kneel
Before Dilwarra's gods or those of Gae Mukh
Enough for him, unlettered soul ,to feel,
Whoe'er in Abuji may rule as master,
Men of an ancient creed or men without
The pooja of his childhood and his Pastor
Is his to follow,let who may have doubt.
He hears unmoved how the Chauhan once wrested
From the Pramar this mountain hold sublime;
His thoughts are further back, when Vishnu crested
Proud Guru Sikr in the world's young prime.
So the old stream of pilgrims ripples yearly,
While some there be who stay awhile and grow
To love the Hill and its cool breezes dearly,
As refuge from the burning plains below:
As clothed with natural, not celestial beauty_
A home for children of the Frank, and place
For England'ssoldiers when on foreign duty
Health to renew and tired nerve to brace.
To these the rocks which bear the names of Nun
And Toad , The Gates and SunsetPoint,the play
Of light upon the Lake from Moon and Sun
Are Abu's chief divinities to-day.
----Rajputana Gazetteer_____ 1894 By Col. G. H. Trevor, C.S.I.
Rhymes of Rajputana
