Worldfairs Forum - Expositions Universelles et Spécialisées

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Femininity of dress, according to the American standard, distinguishes the men of Ceylon. With drapery reaching to the feet the Cingalese devises a substitute for trousers, and above the skirt he wears a sash of gaudy silk. His arms and breast are covered with ornaments, and jewels dangle from his ears. When the turban is removed, a coiffure is displayed that represents more care and painstaking than the average woman gives to her headdress. The native knots his glossy black hair behind, holding it from the forehead with a fancy tortoise shell comb. A troupe of Cingalese men and women are seen in strange native dances at Mysterious Asia.

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Everything about the Ceylon building is reminiscent of the Orient. The building itself is designed after the Temple of the Tooth, at Kandy, one of the famous Buddhist temples. The pavilion is crowded with interesting products and relics from a curious country. Atany of the curios antedate the Christian era. There are wonderfully carved pieces of furniture. One is a semi-circular table, hand carved, of lustrous ebony. It is in the form of a moonstone, that serves as an entrance to the Buddha temple. Another is a cabinet, also hand-carved, from calamander, a wood as hard as ebony, but lighter in color. The calamander forests have been practically exhausted and the wood is no longer to be obtained commercially. There is a full set of furniture made from porcupine quills. Dainty tables, inlaid, and showing the wealth of Ceylon’s timber resources are plentifully scattered about. Curiously wrought images in gold, silver and brass are everywhere displayed. Tortoise shell caskets, richly ornamented in solid gold, and worth fabulous sums, are shown in cases. There are relics recovered from ruins that existed as long as 300 years B. C.

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One of the most picturesque buildings in the foreign section is the Ceylon pavilion, a reproduction of an old Kandian temple. There are many points of the exterior that suggest the remote island of Ceylon, the home of fragrant tea and wonderful laces; but the interior is all Ceylon. There is scarcely an Occidental touch in the furnishings. There are marvelous wood carvings, quaint hammered brass objects, furniture of sandal wood and porcupine quills, models of priests and dancing girls and hideous masks, such as are used in the famous Devil Dance. Yet the most characteristic touch, the greatest sweep of “ local color,” is added by the waiters who serve tea to the visitors at the pavilion. There are fourteen of them and they are all Cingalese men, wearing the native costume of the Island of Ceylon. They are handsome men, too, with keen dark eyes, crisp black hair and swarthy skin. Their dress consists of a blanket skirt, a somewhat American shirt and a little white jacket. Around the waist is a broad black silk girdle and a little black tie finishes the costume. The Cingalese wear no hats, and they permit their hair to grow long. It is then coiled and is ornamented by a circular comb of tortoise shell. Most of these waiters speak English fluently.

This British colony makes a splendid independent exhibit of its Teas and other products.


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