2-982-217 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

A Hindoo Fair in Cashmere, 1858. Bathing in India. 'During the summer the inhabitants of Cashmere are much addicted to making pilgrimages to the various places which tradition has given a repute for sanctity, and the principal feature at the sacred spot is invariably a spring, often of considerable volume, which...has its waters confined in a tank...The people here perform their devotions under the superintendence of the Brahmins, making offerings and receiving in return the sacred mark on their forehead. Bathing in the tank continues all day...Booths are erected round the tank, where provisions are sold, as well as women's ornaments and toys for children, of which the staple appears to be trumpets and whistles, a dozen of which can be procured for the traditional value assigned them of one penny'. From "Illustrated London News", 1858.