188 SUMMER GARDENS OF KASHMIR 



raised this building to the skies : the angel Gabriel 

 suggested its date — 1609." The mason's tablet 

 on the west side, erected seven years later, on 

 the completion of the work, runs : " God be 

 praised ! What a canal and what a waterfall ! 

 Constructed by Haider, by order of the King 

 of the World, the Paramount Lord of his Age, 

 this canal is a type of the canal in the Paradise, 

 this waterfall is the glory of Kashmir." Brave 

 words these, but no doubts troubled Haider — a 

 master-builder sure of his patron and his own 

 skill. A Hindu shrine is set up in one of the 

 arches where the marigolds and rosebuds wreath 

 the drab plaster walls. Pink indigo bushes and 

 lilac wild -flowers flourish on the earthen roofs, 

 and grow between the grey cornice stones; 

 behind which the giant poplars whisper rest- 

 lessly in the lightest breeze ; while over the close, 

 delicate, northern harmonies the pine woods 

 brood sombre and remote. Then with a sudden 

 burst of sound and colour, a band of newly- 

 arrived pilgrims flock in to make their puja at 

 the shrine. The sacred fish are fed, roses are 

 flung into the reservoir, the pradakshina is per- 

 formed. Three times round the tank they go 

 in their saffron, mauve, and marigold robes, and 



