A Princess Remembers: The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur
“The time of day that I loved best was the early evening, when Ma was getting ready for dinner. Night falls very quickly in Cooch Behar, earlier than in other parts of India. The fleeting dusk was accompanied by the sound of temple bells the evening prayers were chanted and offerings of food, flowers, and incense were made to the gods and goddesses.
Then the palace came to life again after the long enervating heat of the afternoon. The table in the dining-room was laid with gold, silver, and flowers, the state band tuned up for the evening, and we were allowed to go to Ma’s apartments to watch her getting dressed.
The air was filled with the delicious scent of dhuan, an incense that the servants carried from room to room in a smoking silver urn, waving it to and fro as they went to drive away the mosquitoes. But as we approached Ma’s rooms the scent of her French perfume started to mingle with the dhuan,”
-A Princess Remembers: The Memoirs of the Maharani of Jaipur by Gayatri Devi