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The Golghar or Gol Ghar ('Round house') is located to the west of the Gandhi Maidan in Patna, capital of Bihar state, India. It is a granary built by Captain John Garstin, in 1786.<br/><br/> Built in a Stupa architectural style, the building has a width of 125 m, and a height of 29 m. It is pillar-less with a 3.6 m thick wall at the base. The spiral staircase was designed to facilitate the passage of the workers who loaded and unloaded the grain.
Durga Puja, also referred to as Durgotsava or Sharadotsav is an annual Hindu festival in South Asia that celebrates worship of the Hindu goddess Durga. It refers to all the six days observed as Mahalaya, Shashthi, Maha Saptami, Maha Ashtami, Maha Nabami and Vijayadashami.<br/><br/> The Durga Puja festival marks the victory of the Goddess Durga over the evil buffalo demon Mahishasura. Thus, the Durga Puja festival epitomises the victory of Good over Evil. In Bengal, Durga is worshipped as Durgotinashini, the destroyer of evil and the protector of her devotees.
Opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the species of plant from which opium and poppy seeds are extracted. Opium is the source of many opiates, including morphine, thebaine, codeine, papaverine, and noscapine.<br/><br/> The Latin botanical name means the 'sleep-bringing poppy', referring to the sedative properties of some of these opiates.
In the 'Examining Hall' of the opium factory, 'the consistency of the crude opium as brought from the country in earthen pans is simply tested, either by the touch, or by thrusting a scoop into the mass. A sample from each pot (the pots being numbered and labelled) is further examined for consistency and purity in the chemical test room'.
Opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is the species of plant from which opium and poppy seeds are extracted. Opium is the source of many opiates, including morphine, thebaine, codeine, papaverine, and noscapine. The Latin botanical name means the 'sleep-bringing poppy', referring to the sedative properties of some of these opiates.
Holi is a Hindu spring festival, also known as the festival of colours or the festival of love. It is primarily observed in India, Nepal, and other regions of the world with significant populations of Hindus or people of Indian origin.<br/><br/> Holi is celebrated at the approach of the vernal equinox, on the Phalguna Purnima (Full Moon). The festival date varies every year, per the Hindu calendar, and typically comes in March, sometimes February in the Gregorian Calendar. The festival signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, end of winter, and for many a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair broken relationships, and is also celebrated as a thanksgiving for a good harvest.
'In the Mixing Room, which otherwise looks like a somewhat spartan bathhouse, the contents of the earthen pans are thrown into vats and stirred with blind rakes until the whole mass becomes a homogeneous paste'.
In the 'Balling Room', where the opium paste is shaped into small spheres: 'Each ball-maker is furnished with a small table, a stool, and a brass cup to shape the ball in a certain quantity of opium and water and an allowance of poppy petals, in which the opium balls are rolled.<br/><br/> Every man is required to make a certain number of balls, all weighing alike. An expert workman will turn out upwards of a hundred balls a day'.
The finished opium balls are stored before shipping in the Stacking Room, where 'a number of boys are constantly engaged in stacking, turning, airing, and examining the balls. To clear them of mildew, moths or insects, they are rubbed with dried and crushed poppy petal dust'. Finally, the balls are transferred into cardboard boxes and loaded into ships bound for Calcutta and, ultimately, China.
After balling, the balls are taking to the Drying Room, where each is placed in an individual earthenware cup. The image shows men examining the balls, and puncturing with a sharp style those in which gas, arising from fermentation, may be forming'.