Mystic India, 1950s

[Music] somewhere east of Suz where the best is like the worst a crowded continent swarms with people with palaces and poverty with fear of life and fate in the Hereafter a Sublime faith of Fanatics who hold a river the mighty Ganges [Music] Mystic India's 3 50 million people believe that these are holy Waters that wash away their transgressions and purify them spiritually Pilgrims from all parts of the nation make their way periodically to the holy city of Benares with its Hindu temples and ancient guts which line the river's Banks and look down upon the devout even the wearing apparel is washed in the sacred ganes religious rights that The Accidental can never understand disclose the thoughtful the Serene whose prayers are all for everlasting life life without pain and poverty life without trials and tribulation [Music] Delhi India's capital city The Citadel in centuries past of many of Maharaja scene of strife during the Indian Mutiny of gorgeous pageantry under the British rule Delhi is typical of India with its swarming people and animals particularly the everpresent cow the Hindu religion teaches that every soul eventually passes through the entire Animal Kingdom and the cow is regarded as sacred because The Devout believe it is a form of life which more fortunate ancestors have attained even in the busy bazaars these useless animals are allowed to roam at will without molestation [Music] here as everywhere in India people literally live in the streets Buy sell eat and sleep it is of little concern to them that a cup is rarely washed pesy bothersome flies are in abundance contaminating and consuming all exposed foods but who cares nobody tries to keep the sidewalks her streets clean fakers are everywhere not all are Beggars of arms but mostly religious Fanatics who like this one deliberately inflict punishment upon themselves his ordeal is a bed of sharpened [Music] Nails this Faker hopes to attract an audience liberal with coins as the Thin weird notes of his pipe are supposed to lull the deadly Cobra into a state of [Music] hypnosis strange practices in Mystic [Music] India here outside Puri again has proved the claim that India is people people more than land more than cities buildings or mountains multitudes who are part of a system of cast that regards Millions as Untouchables it is The Untouchables who throng the streets for the an session of the Juggernaut lord of the world in Hindu belief the god of the people in whose presence all classes are equal the hands of frenzied pilgrims all eager to gain the great God's favor rush to the job of helping Adorn the massive Monument to Crown it with the wheel and flag of Vishnu the Giant image of jagat is raised to the platform of a colossal car of unknown Antiquity where the huge idle Towers above the heads of the people the crushing weight of the great vehicle makes its progress slowly as hundreds of the faithful drag it through the streets for several days it will roll slowly through surging masses of the UNT at times some have been crowded beneath the giant wheels giving rise to the belief that the Juggernaut in that way invited peace to those who perish beneath its staggering [Music] weight but all that is Indian is not people poverty and Superstition this beautiful palace of the Maharaja of Baroda is a symbol of another and a vastly different India it is the home of the enlightened ruler of an Indian province of 3 million subjects chief executive of the most Progressive and most industrialized domain of India and one of the richest men in the world the park within the palace grounds is a Beauty Spot of tropical foliage and massive fountains India is not all filth and poverty it too has Beauty slender girls in the palace grounds rehearse a traditional dance that has come down Through the Ages [Music] the music too is traditional as are the instruments that pour forth notes and strains peculiar to the land every little gesture is symbolic a golden crusted Carriage followed by a guard of soldiers and servants contrast the plain and lowly life of the multitude but it is the people themselves who demand this Splendor for the [Music] rulers Administration duties in this vast land are many service to the people stamps of Maharaja with a term of greatness much has been done by those rulers who have risen above the system of Indian cast and have brought the standards of India's government into harmony with the World At Large [Music] in preparation for a parade or some official ceremony a maharaja's elephants must be gay painted and Adorn note particularly the Artistry that went into the designing of a tiger around the trunk and eye of this old fellow when he Winks it is hard to believe that you you are really looking at an elephant Rook Ki is the favorite his head Bears another clever adornment the image of an elephant but what's this a smoke well why not if he enjoys it after all he is the favorite Indian elephants can be trained to do anything their huge forms will permit [Music] [Music] now a ceremonial procession with all the pump and Splendor that India can produce a ruler surveys all from the back of his biggest elephant this too is India as much as our Millions who live in squalor India whose temples and palaces whose traditions and rights come down from a history written long before the dawn of modern civilization [Music] here within a land of mystery and want of Plenty and poverty here at Agra stands the Taj Mahal most tender Memorial ever erected in all the world to the love of man for woman completed in the year 1650 by the emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife the sulana mumas Mah house it is a Pure White marble on a vast marble Terrace with its Majestic Dome reflected in the quiet pool between dark Cyprus dreams truly a lovely pattern of sentiment woven into the strange fabric of Mystic India [Music]