File:1 The interiors at Viceregal Lodge (IIAS), Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India.jpg

English: I took this image more than half a decade ago at the erstwhile Viceregal Lodge, and now the Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS) in Shimla, Himachal Pradesh. As a cultural historian of Shimla, I have been fascinated by the ways in which its past speaks to us so profoundly and uniquely through its magnificent architecture. The Viceregal Lodge was originally built in 1888 under the viceroyalty of Lord Dufferin and was inspired by Scottish Baronial architecture. Perched on Observatory Hill, it served as the viceroy's office and residence until India's Independence. It was here that the Partition of India was also decided, amidst numerous other landmark meetings. Seen in this image is the interior length of the building from the first floor, a position otherwise unavailable to the general visitor because access to floors except the ground floor is restricted to scholars and staff. The beautiful wooden interiors are made of Burmese teak, and the ceiling above holds a unique fire-fighting system that would automatically come of use in-case of a fire, for it is fitted with water pipes encased in wax coating. (Thankfully, such a situation has never arisen). The impressions on the left wall belong to the erstwhile arms and weaponry owned by the colonial government, which were shifted to the Rashtrapati Bhawan in Delhi post Independence. Today, the Viceregal Lodge represents a fine institution of higher learning where scholars from the humanities and social sciences regularly come to reside and research: a fantastic postcolonial transformation of a former colonial space.