A little history lesson - The Chattri
Today J1, J2 & I visited the Chattri on the South Downs. The Chattri (which means umbrella in Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu) is a small monument dedicated to the Indian Soldiers who died in the First World War, particularly the 53 Hindu and Sikh soldiers who died in hospitals in Brighton and whose remains were cremated at this spot. The memorial was designed by E C Henriques from Mumbai and the dome with its eight pillars are built from white Sicilian marble. Three large granite slabs lie over the original concrete cematory bases.
To reach it we had to walk through a field with cows in it. OK, they were rather a long way away but J1 is rather nervous of them and when we saw some RUNNING in the distance we nearly turned back. We also had to walk past another fenced area of cows. I didn't really like them especially as they started following us along the fence. I know they look harmless, but don't be fooled by their soft eyes, they mean business!
There were LOADS of 'em.
The Chattri is barely visible from a distance as it's surrounded by trees in a field in the middle of nowhere. It's a beautiful isolated spot. You can just about see the top of the dome in the photo below:
Here I am the reading the inscription on the monument, written in Hindi and English:
It says:
"To the memory of all the Indian soldiers who gave their lives in the service of their King Emperor in the Great War, this monument erected on the site of the funeral pyre where the Sikhs and Hindus who died in hospital in Brighton passed through the fire is, in grateful admiration and brotherly affection dedicated"
Here is the view inside the domed roof:
And to end the little history lesson, here I am looking rather handsome:
