Royal Pageant at Calcutta, January 3rd 1912

CALCUTTA, The Pageant Dashera Procession, Jan. 3rd 1912. An old album page with four amateur 5½ x 3½ ins photographs to each side. On one side are photographs of Bullock Car, Retainers in Chain Armour, Three State Elephants and on the other Elephant with Royal Banner, Two State Elephants, Dancing Horse from Kishangarh, Camels from Bikaner. The interesting thing about this sort of private snapshots is that, although they lack the composition and quality of the professional images, they reflect what impressed an individual and may well be the only photograph of a particular moment in existance. Elephants, so sadly lacking from the 1911 Delhi Durbar itself, clearly captured the imagination in Calcutta, where the Royal party and their followers moved to after Delhi.    aug3/3