Destination: India diary. Inside the Maharaja's City Palace area in Jaipur. Jaipur's majestic court house. A little historical background about India's Independence Day.

The Court House building in Jaipur, part of the City Palace complex, was the backdrop to many meetings and official ceremonies before Independence Day in India.

This is where the last meetings of government officials took place before the independence, where Lord Mountbatten of Burma was proclaimed the last Viceroy of India in a ceremony, before the independence of India was proclaimed in August 1947.

It is splendid with its large chandelier and the paintings on the wall of past Maharadja of Jaipur.

We walked inside the Court House building, now a museum. The large meeting room with its wonderful sparkling unbelievably big chandelier, the ornately decorated walls and ceilings, then the pictures of past rulers on the walls, to the side, a showcase of the different uniforms and official dress of the Maharajas of the past is very, very impressive.

The view from behind the two thrones with the impressive ceiling. The meeting Hall of Court House, City Palace in Jaipur.

The majestic chandelier casts a magical light. If you are interested in more historical background about the time leading up to the end of the Raj and the time just before India's independence, I recommend the book Indian Summer, The Secret History of the end of an Empire, by Alex von Tunzelmann.

Very interesting but at times sad reading, considering the turmoil and pains of the civil unrest, before the independence.