1878.] 
F. S. Growse —Mathura Notes. 
125 
^T3l fire ufl HOI 
sifaq ?t^t i 
»ifitir^T 155*1 «re %' n \ 0 11 
C\ > 
a»h wq %r*il qqir qreit vt * jw*t 1 
Wf*l^T*$f qjsfi qwret *TT^qft sgjqd dWt || \ \ || 
March 1st, Kosi .—Spend an hour or two in the afternoon as a spectator 
of the Holi sports at the Gomati-Kund. Each of the 6 Jat villages of 
the Denda Pal§ has two or more chaugais, which come up one after the 
other in a long procession, stopping at short intervals on the way to dance 
in the manner above described, but several at a time instead of in single 
pairs. One of the performers executed a pas de seul mounted on a daf, or 
large timbrel, which was supported on the shoulders of four other men of 
his troupe. Bands of Mummers (or swangs) were also to be seen, one set 
attired as Muhammadan fakirs ; another (ghayalon lea siccing) as wounded 
warriors, painted with streaks, as it were of blood, and with sword-blades 
and daggers so bound on to their neck and arms and other parts of the 
body that they seemed to be transfixed by them. Some long iron rods were 
actually thrust through their protruded tongue and their cheeks, and in 
this ghastly guise and with drawn swords in their hands, with which they 
kept on dealing and parrying blows, the pair of combatants perambulated 
the crowd. 
March 2nd .—At 2 p. m. ride over to Bathen for the Holanga mela, and 
find a place reserved for me on a raised terrace at the junction of four 
streets in the centre of the village. Every avenue was closely packed with 
the densest throng, and the house-tops seemed like gardens of flowers with 
the bright dresses of the women. Most of them were Jats by caste and 
wore their distinctive costume, a petticoat of coarse country stuff worked 
by their own hands with figures of birds, beasts and men of most grotesque 
design, and a mantle thickly sewn all over with discs of talc, which flash 
like mirrors in the sun and quite dazzle the sight. The performers in the 
chaupai could scarcely force their way through the crowd much less dance, 
but the noise of the band that followed close at their heels made up for all 
shortcomings. There was a great deal of singing, of a very vociferous and 
* Bhaungara , a thicket, 
f Nara, a twisted string-, izar-band. 
t Jliatalc , a knot. 
§ Any subdivision of a Jat clan is called a Pal, and the town of Kosi is the centre 
of one such subdivision, which is known as the Benda Pal. 
