The Punkah was a ceiling fan which had to be pulled and released repeatedly to work. It was almost always controlled by servants while the wealthy enjoyed their downtime indoors away from the extreme heat. In Kipling's narrative, the protagonists often sit together under a moving Punkah while demanding their servants keep pulling. You can see one pictured here---yellow and brown against the stark white ceiling. 

Wikimedia Commons Contributors. File:Dining Room Punkah 1880.jpg. Image. Wikimedia Commons, 23 October 2020, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Dining_Room_Punkah_1880.jpg&oldid=497762603. Accessed 3 Dec. 2025.

 

Featured in Exhibit

1. "At the End of the Passage," Kipling ~ Gallery Exhibit
Artist Unknown
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© Image in the Public Domain. Reproduced in accordance with the Doctrine of Fair Use, as per 17 USC 107.
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