Note 111 — Chapter III

With the decay of Thanesar there has been a marked falling off in the number of pilgrims to the sacred places. “The sanitary arrangements introduced by the British authorities to prevent the spread of disease are said to be most unpopular and to deter large numbers of pilgrims from attending.... It is said that, whereas in former days great men used to march to Thanesar with small armies of followers and attendants they now come by rail with a few servants to the nearest station and return in the same way.”—Gazetteer of the Ambala District, pp. 73-74. On the other hand, the railways must bring to the shrines many who could not have spared the time or the money to visit them under the old conditions of travel.