Through Town and Jungle
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Citation
William Hunter Workman and Fanny Bullock Workman. Through Town and Jungle. 1904. cyclearchive.com, https://cyclearchive.com/books/through-town-and-jungle-w-and-f-workman-1904/
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Contents
- The Workmans explain that they cycled over fourteen thousand miles through India, besides Ceylon, Burma and Java, to study its ruined temples. They describe the dak bungalows, baggage, servant and cyclometers a cycle tourist needs, and the loss of their photographs in the 1903 Kashmir flood.
- Landing at Tuticorin from Ceylon, they cycle to Madura, the South Indian tourist centre, and on by Dindigul toward Trichinopoly. The chapter covers an interview with a native missionary, the difficulty of lodgings and food, river crossings, and the colours, birds and monkeys of the road.
- The Dravidian race and its temple style, seen at Seringham, Tanjore, Kumbhakonam and the Chidambaram dak bungalow. They watch an idol procession and Indian irrigation, then visit Conjeveram and the sculptures of Mahabalipur.
- They ride from Madras via Ranipat and Vellore, with its temple, to Ootacamund in the Nilgiri Hills. On the way they cross a river in a lotus-leaf boat and climb to the hill station, where they describe the aboriginal Todas and their customs.
- From the Nilgiris they descend to the Mysore jungle with their Madrasi bearer and meet bungalow cookery and the chicken. They see the Chamundi bull at Mysore, the Chalukyan temple of Somnathpur and the colossal Gomatasvara at Sravana Belgola.
- They visit the Belur and Hulabid temples and discuss how trees destroy temples and how Europeans misjudge Indian architecture. They go on to Nagalpur, Harranhalli and Koravangula, Bangalore and the gopuras of Tadpatri, with an account of thirst.
- At Hyderabad they stay at the Chadarghat hotel and glimpse the purdah life of native households. They then see Chalukyan work at Hammancondah and the torans of Warangal, make their record cycle run, pass Palmar and Bellary and reach Hampi, the ruined capital of Vijayanagar.
- The early Jain temples of Gadag and Lakkundi in the Dharwar country, and a reception at Lakkundi, lead to Mohammedan Bijapur. The chapter also covers plague-infected districts and thorns that ruin cycle tyres, answered by self-sealing air tubes.
- They describe the Buddhist cave temples of Bhaja and Karli and the dak bungalows at Pachora and Ferdapur. The Ajanta caves and their mural frescoes are discussed, followed by the Buddhist, Brahman and Jain caves of Ellora and the Kailasa.
- The Great Tope at Sanchi, the 'new man' in India and roadside trees lead to Gwalior, with its legend of origin, Man Singh's painted palace, the Padmanatha temple and the rock-cut Jain statues. The chapter ends with the Taj Mahal at Agra.
- They visit Fatehpur-Sikri, the Gobind Deva temple at Bindrabun with its monkeys, and the palace at Deeg. After dust storms and the Hodal bungalow they see old Delhi, ride the Grand Trunk Road, visit the Golden Temple at Amritsar and describe the ekka.
- After the summer in Kashmir and Ladakh, they make a pioneer cycle run from Darjeeling to Calcutta, descending to Siliguri and taking tiffin under a banyan facing Everest and Kanchenjanga. They pass Bhagalpur and the Noneghat bungalow, and describe a sunrise refraction and a cremation.
- Crossing Orissa, the land of rivers, via Midnapore, Jelasore, Soro and Jajpur, they reach Cuttack and the palm-bordered pilgrim road to Puri. They describe Jagannath and his temple and go by palki at night to Konarak and the Black Pagoda.
- They approach Bhuvaneswara, the temple city, and visit its Saivite shrines, the Indo-Aryan temples, the Great Temple and the temple of Mukteswara, noting the floral and animal sculpture. The chapter ends with the Buddhist caves of Udayagiri and Khandagiri.
- Leaving Calcutta on the Grand Trunk Road they ride through the Bengal coal region to Buddh-Gaya and its temple, cross the Sonne causeway and stay at Dehri and Sasseram. They visit Benares and the tope of Sarnath, then Mahoba, the first Chandel capital, with its Kakra temple and club.
- From Mahoba they cycle via Chhatarpur to Khajuraha as guests of the State, with the Diwan's lavish hospitality. They describe the Indo-Aryan Hindu and Jain temples, the Ghantai, Mahadeo and Parswanatha, and a second visit.
- The medieval palaces of Central India and Rajputana, Jeypore as a modern Rajput city, and poor accommodation at Ajmere lead into the Bikanir desert and a night in an open choultri at Sojate. The chapter ends with the cenotaphs of Rajputana and an account of the Rajputs.
- From Nasirabad they ride via Deoli at dawn to Bundi, with its streets, temples and tangled palace. They then reach Chitor, the dead capital of the Children of the Sun, and tell its history, including the women's death for its honour and its final fall.
- At Oodeypore they see the royal palace, Peshola lake, the island palaces, a royal procession and elephant riding. They go on to the temple at Udaipur in Bhopal and Ambarnath, then Mandu, the old Ghori capital, its Patan dome, and the remains on the island of Mandata.
- They pass through the Bhil country in famine, from Rutlam to Ahmedabad, and visit Dabhoi, with the story of its founding and its Hindu sculpture. They then describe Ahmedabad, the city of dust, its Indo-Mohammedan architecture and its succession of rulers.
- In famine-stricken Katyawar they see palia stones, the Girnar temples and the Jain hill, and old Buddhist caves. They visit Palitana and the sacred hill of Sutrunjya, then Somnath Patan, with Mahmud of Ghazni's siege and the temple's remains.
- From Hoti-Mardan they visit centres of Graeco-Buddhist art, including Kashmir Smats, the Khan of Shiwa in Yusafsai and Ranigat. The chapter closes with the Gandhara sculptures preserved in the Calcutta and Lahore museums.
- A list of the printed authorities the authors drew on, including Tod's Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, Fergusson's histories of architecture, Hunter's works on Orissa and India, and Cunningham's Archaeological Survey reports.