Carrie Chapman Catt - Diaries, India, January - February? 1912 (Box 1, Folder 5)

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Thursday We travelled on to Abu Road which we reached at 1:50. I had lunch in the dining car and the Dr. lunched on crackers and apples. It was hot when we got off the train. We were soon loaded into a tonga. This is a two wheeled cart with seats for four back to back. It looked anything but comfortable, but when we got started we found it much better than we anticipated. We climbed steadily upward, and soon breathed moutain air cool and delicious. We rode 17 miles to Mt. Abu, but the horses were changed five times so we made good speed. At 4:30 we arrived at the Raj[illegible] Hotel and had a cup of poor tea. Then we entered some rickshas each with three men, two before and one behind...

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...who carried us for a long drive or ride to Sunset Point. At the Catskill House there is such a view - a high point over a precipice looking up and down an old river bed - now a cultivated valley. We saw the sun set and were ready for dinner at 7:30. This hotel is composed of several detached buildings and a man with a lantern escorted us up several steps to the dining room. This is the first place where we have not had mosquito netting tents over our beds. We were glad to learn there were no mosquitos here. We are now 4,500 ft high. It is here a resort for those who seek relief from the heat below and there is a school for soldiers' children and a sanitarium here. Cards 14 & 15 phot A

Friday 16th We were up [illegible]...

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...and took rickshas for a ride thro' the town and around Gem Lake which is a beautiful place little lots bordered by clubs and houses. On the hilltops there are at least five quite grand "castles" which belong to Rajahs who summer here. At about 11:30 we started forth again provided with passes and rickied to the Jain temple which is the attraction of the place. It opens at 12 noon. There are no photos or postals to be had of the three temples in one enclosure and I cannot describe them. They are built on a side hill against a background of mountain rock. They are built of marble the roof resting on many columns most elaborately and delicately carved. These Jain temples are always a...

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...parallelogram with a raised platform in the middle and also following the walls. Shrines as close together as they can be set rest against the wall with doors of [illegible] in front. The gods are made of marble and the surroundings decorated with much carving. In the chief temple there were ten almost life sized elephants standing in a row, all decorated with trappings. In another was a hores more than life size, mounted by a rider. These were in the holy of holies where we could not go, but we could look. No one about these temples speaks English, and they will not allow a guide to enter unless he is of the same faith and as we have never found a guide who could speak much English we are not able to learn as much as we would like. These are certainly wonderful...

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...temples and apparently they are idol worshippers. Like the Hindoos however, this may be true only of the less intelligent ones. Our visit here has been restful and pleasant. Now we descend to our [illegible] to Abu Road once more where we must have a long wait, since we must go down the mountain before dark. Sunday Feb. 18 We rattled down the mountain Friday eve in a cloud of dust and were fairly white with it upon our arrival. However, a beautifully kept waiting room for European ladies with toilet and wash basin adjoining and an old man to brush us off soon restored us to respectability and a fair dinner in the refreshment room finish the job. Our car - a very poor old one - was waiting. The fair [illegible] lost her temper over it, but for some unknown reason I was in good humor. We were in bed when the train started, but got little sleep until morning when we were so deeply absorbed in it that we arrived at the breakfast station before we were up. So we boiled some water, mde tea and ate biscuits with it which we...