India (1960s)

[Music] the fabulous road to India sought over the centuries by many explorers including Columbus is within easy reach now by Air France planes Calcutta is the youngest and most dynamic of the great Indian cities you can fly there in a few restful and pleasant hours [Music] here is the smartest street in Calcutta Chowringhee where you'll find the great hotels the memorial to Queen Victoria the green stretches of my ton park and its Garden of Eden the undisclosed the hooli formed by the meeting of the three branches of the Ganges because of the hooli Calcutta on the Bay of Bengal as one of the Indian Oceans great ports its annual traffic amounts to more than nine million tons further on you'll see the impressive hora bridge spanning the river and as is the case everywhere in India today the most ancient traditions live on side by side with the latest examples of modern industrial techniques here you'll see men scooping up the river mud into huge baskets this mud will be carried to an old quarter of the town for a throng of artisans employ it to mold religious statues was not man first fashioned by God from the clay of the earth the process of making the statues is a very interesting one first the mud is spread over bunches of straw shaped into form with strips of canvas then the rough mold dries slowly in the Sun as the statues gradually assumed the form of a god or a goddess later one night by the light of torches the statues will be dipped in the river while a religious ceremony takes place from the Ganges he came and to the Ganges he must return the Indians are very proud that Buddha was born in their land it was here in Bude gaya under this very tree that a vision from above came to him a temple has been erected to commemorate the event and a colossal tower was erected in Sarna the place where Buddha preached his first sermon he revealed the cause of human suffering and the way in which it could be overcome his apostolate began here with the wheel of the law [Music] nearby is holy Banaras which shines resplendent with celestial light the symbol of Banaras is a temple the most appropriate place to begin a visit of the city this sanctuary is dedicated to Durga wife of Shiva tame monkeys impudent as can be watches on the lookout for a daily morsel let us explore the narrow alleys of the old city where the walls of the houses are decorated with curious naive paintings and gaudy hues [Music] a colorful crowd thrones into the squares leading to the river some people go to see the barber others to buy Garland's of flowers which they will wear during prayers and religious ceremonies still others to search for souvenirs merchants and pilgrims shadows and beggars and Pandits and priests mingle in the streets [Music] these monumental staircases leading down to the river are called Ghats according to custom pilgrims must render homage to the Ganges and purify themselves in its water is before attending the temple ceremonies the ghats are thronged with a multitude of fervent worshipers a multitude constantly renewed [Music] the Hindu holy books teaches that in ancient days the gods are saying that men have multiplied on earth decided to relinquish the use of the river Ganges to its human inhabitants [Music] the river flows from heaven along the body of the god Shiva who sacrificed a thousand years of his life to retain the River in the Himalayas the river acquired its sacred character its power for doing good from its close connection with the god Shiva pilgrims from every walk of life pilgrims of every age flocked to the Ganges to benefit from its extraordinary virtues there are shadows our holy men living on alms young fiance starting a new life together old women meditating on the life after life all along the rivers great curve stands one cat after another the to see God who lives the poet tulasidas [Music] the Harischandra Ghat the Manikarnika Ghat for Parvati the wife of Shiva lost her earring so legend relates Parvati is another name for the goddess Kali wife of Shiva another name still is durga uma sanctuary in Banaras is dedicated after the sacred bath the Indians rest in family groups protected from the Sun by parasols they meditate they pray on days when there is an eclipse of the Sun or the moon the faithful pour down to the river and vast throngs all the inhabitants of the city dip into the river to obtain holy protection against the evils and the dangers of life according to Hindu philosophy the man who was fortunate enough to die in Banaras and whose ashes are mixed with the waters of the Ganges will become one with Brahma at once without passing through the many incarnations designed to purge man of the many impurities acquired during his life on earth [Music] sacred cows wandered through the streets and alleys crowded with eager purchasers we pass between two close rows of tiny shops this is an immense and colorful Bazaar what are the most celebrated in the Orient you'll find sarees embroidered with gold located fabrics and around the bend in the alley artisans engraving copper vases and trays [Music] further along on his primitive wheel a skillful Potter turns clay vases so gaily that it looks like a game you will see them again on these nuria's dippin eternally in the depths of the earth for water water the benefactor which gives fertility to the rich soil of India [Music] the landscape around kachou are always charming you will stay overnight in a comfortable DAK bungalow operated by the Indian government [Music] today is market day and from the four countryside peasants and farmers come in with produce to sell and desires to fulfill [Music] the women are decked out in their most beautiful saris this is an occasion not to be missed they are magnificently decorated with heavy solid silver bracelets and necklaces among the multitude of merchants the seller of ankle rings is the most popular [Music] now that the work of the day has been accomplished as well as a little merrymaking the Indians think of their religious duties the temples are close by and to them streams the crowd to honor its gods khajuraho was once a powerful and prosperous city but war and the passage of time had placed a heavy hand on its palaces its streets and its squares in ancient times there were 85 temples in Kajal today there are only 30 dating from the 10th and 11th centuries but across the ages they bring us an impressive and touching remembrance of the option of beauty of Hindu orange [Music] the walls are difficult to discern hidden as they are behind these exquisitely carved statues what a swarming multitude of gods and goddesses what a poetic profusion of musicians and dancers [Music] [Music] the women of khajuraho are accustomed to these familiar marvels they come to the temples to lay out their saris in the Sun and wait for them to dry as they gossip [Music] [Music] now this is the man Mandir built about 1510 standing some 300 feet over the town of Gwalior some of its stones go back as far as the 5th century long ago the old legend says prince suraj Sanaa was cured of leprosy here by an age at holy man in gratitude for his miraculous cure the young prince followed the counsels of the sage and erected the majestic fort he added to his name the surname of Tao your dynasty will last predicted the stage as long as your descendants faithfully bear this name and so it was his descendants reigned over the country until the day when young Ted Karen refused to bear the sacred name and thereby lost his throne the roar of the old cannons has been stilled for centuries but the warlike order of the control people's is lively and deep-rooted one evidence is the dance of the militia of Orissa [Music] [Music] [Music] during for centuries the major part of India fell under the domination of the great moguls who were Muslims the moguls left many traces of their reign in India and one of the most extraordinary is known as the Taj Mahal the great Emperor Shah Jahan built it to bury the body of his beloved wife Mumtaz Mahal who died in childbirth giving day to her 14th infant 20,000 men labored 22 years to erect this architectural marvel a mausoleum and white marble encrusted with semi-precious stones then after completing the tomb Shah Jahan was imprisoned by his own son Aurangzeb and he died after a long regretful look at the Taj Mahal like him linger for a moment or two and gaze at its beauty [Music] and now come to enjoy the classical Indian show for foreign visitors to this extraordinary country snake charmer is playing to their perfidious charges [Music] a pleasant drive will bring us to the capital of Rajasthan in only a few hours Jaipur was named after its founder the celebrated Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh built the city in 1728 70 years before the Napoleonic Wars the 60 odd years before the founding of the young American Republic come to see the palace of sails the hawa mahal which houses a splendid collection of ancient arms oriental carpets manuscripts and paintings in India Rajasthan has always been noted for its love of the arts the Jaipur artisans are skilled in stone cutting and in jewel design they were long ago and both their skill and their fame last to this very day [Music] in the center of the city stands the palace of the maharaja his scale of living under the republic is less grandiose than it was before taxes the scourge of the modern world have reduced his table of 99 elephants to only a few to imagine the splendors of the fabulous India of old as described in ancient chronicles you must visit New Delhi Republic Day is being celebrated in New Delhi [Music] [Music] this day is the national festival of the young Indian Republic member of the British Commonwealth of Nations founded in our own era the extraordinary processions give a striking image of the diversity of races and people which inhabit this immense subcontinent [Music] [Music] you will return to India said an Indian friend to me before my departure you will return because there is a mysterious and compelling atmosphere which you will find nowhere else and he added with a smile you're so close to India now by air France [Music]