Baal Kaanda
57 - Return of the marriage procession to Ayodhya and rejoicing in the city
Chaupais
Description
Kettledrums were beaten and good tabors sounded, accompanied by the blast of sackbuts and conchs, and the neighing of horses and trumpeting of elephants. Similarly there was a clash of cymbals and drums, while clarionets played sweet tunes. The citizens were all delighted to hear the procession coming; the hair on their body stood erect. They all decorated their own beautiful houses as well as the markets, streets, squares and gates of the city. All the lanes were watered with perfumes; here and there festal squares were filled in with elegant devices. The bazar was beautified beyond all description with festal arches, flags, banners and canopies. Trees of the areca-nut, the plantain, the mango, the Bakula, the Kadamba and the Tamala were transplanted alongwith their fruit. The beautiful trees thus planted touched the ground (on account of their being laden with fruits); they had basins of precious stones constructed around them with exquisite skill.