英和和英

名詞

chowpal (plural chowpals)

1. (India) Alternative form of chaupal, a village meeting-place.
   • 1946, Report of the Health Survey and Development Committee, Vol. 3, p. 93:

     He yearns for his village chowpal (meeting place) and fondly remembers the pleasant nights he spent in bhajan, kirtan, or folksongs with his village companions.

   • 1952, The Voice of Islam, Vol. 1:

     The chowpal was and is the centre of all activities—social, religious and political.

   • 1969, Sarvodaya, Vol. 19, pp. 189–190:

     Towards evening they entered Daryapur where at the village chowpal sat a group of elders puffing away at their hookahs and gossiping... In their dress, habits and talks, gradually the new generation of children are following the city-bred people. The dhoti is being replaced by troussers. Every house has a transistor or a radio. The community chowpal attract every child for the TV shows...

   • 1977, The Correspondence of Lord William Cavendish Bentinck, Governor-General of India 1828–1835, Vol. 2, p. 1458:

     Chaupal (Chowpal). A shed in which the village community assemble for public business.

   • 2000, PLA Notes, Vol. 37, p. 56:

     We gathered at the ‘chowpal’, the platform where people get together for public events.

   • 2002, Politics and Culture: Essays in Honour of Serajul Islam Choudhury, p. 347:

     However, it is true that the village was note without its local politicians. The chowpal (courtyard) was full of talks about individuals, quarrels, and questions of caste behaviours. Some members of the chowpal were even deeply thinking of the dangers of the commercial wealth of village shopkeepers...

2. (India) Alternative form of chowpaul, a kind of litter.
   • 1992, Anil Ranjan Biswas, Calcutta and Calcuttans from Dihi to Megalopolis, p. 361:

     The second type was Chowpal. It had a very light bed or sofa cover with a bamboo arch over it—It was attended by servants carrying umbrellas. This was in demand for ceremonies such as marriage processions etc.