Travels in India (Tavernier) 56.2

56.2

Preparations for this festival are commenced on the 7th of September, about two months before the five days which it lasts ; and the reader should remember here the description which I have given of the palace of Jahanabad in the sixth chapter of Book I. The first thing done is to cover in two grand courts of the palace from the middle of each court up to the hall, which is open on three sides. The awnings covering this great space are of red velvet embroidered with gold, and so heavy that the poles which are erected to support them are of the size of a ship’s mast, and some of them are 35 to 40 feet in height ; there are thirty-eight for the tent of the first court, and those near the hall are covered with plates of gold of the thickness of a ducat. The others are covered with silver of the same thickness, and the cords which sustain these poles are of cotton of different colours, and some of them of the thickness of a good cable.