gates [torans] of the Sanchi tope; consisting not only of flags, but of all sorts of devices in metal, raised on the top of long staves. They arc generally kept wrapped up in bags of scarlet cloth, and displayed only on days of festivity and parade ; and, of old time, before the British peace was established, in battle. The umbrella is the highest of all these insignia of regality. Chatrapati , “lord of the umbrella,” is even now a prouder title in India than raja or maharaja . The king of Burma’s title translated is “Lord of the Twenty-four Umbrellas and the Emperor of China always has that number of umbrellas borne before him, even in the hunting-field. A vermilion umbrella everywhere in the east signifies imperial authority. The Maha- bharata makes frequent mention of umbrellas as a mark of royalty, and speaks of the gift of a white umbrella, having a hundred ribs, as calculated to insure the giver a place in Indra’s heaven. Rajendralala Mitra, in his Antiquities of Orissa, Cal- cutta, 1875, says that the most detailed rules are given in the Yukti kalapataru for the making and proportion of the parts of both royal and common umbrellas. An umbrella with the stick of choice wood, and ribs of selected bamboo, and a cover of scarlet cloth, is a gift worthy of presentation to a king. It is called a prasada . An umbrella with blue cloth and a gold fringe is meet for a prince. It is called a pratapa . An umbrella, the frame and stem of which are of sandal-wood, mounted in gold, with a. golden kalasa or knop on the top, and covered with pure white, fringed with gold, is the right umbrella for a noble. It is called a kanaka-danda. But the most im- portant umbrella of all is the ?iava-danda, which is used only on occasions of high state, such as coronations, the marriages of kings and princes, and other regal celebrations. The stem, the sliding frame and the ribs are all of pure gold. The handle is a pure ruby, and the knop at the end a diamond, and the cover of silk, of the choicest colours, and fringed with thirty-two looped strings of pearls, with thirty-two pearls on each string. Umbrellas R
