Kapurthala

Kapurthala was ruled by a Maharaja with a pronounced Francophile taste in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, resulting in the Jagatjit Palace — built in French Indo-Saracenic style directly inspired by the Palace of Versailles and now housing the Sainik School — along with the Moorish Mosque, modeled on Marrakesh's Koutoubia Mosque, and the Elysee Palace, a smaller residence echoing its Parisian namesake. The result is a small Punjab town with an architectural character found nowhere else in North India, a genuine curiosity within a state otherwise defined by Sikh heritage and agricultural plains. Kapurthala suits travelers with an interest in unusual colonial-era royal architecture — the Jagatjit Palace's grounds, the Moorish Mosque's distinctive dome, and the Panch Mandir temple complex reward a slow, unhurried walking tour of the town. Given Kapurthala's proximity to Amritsar and Jalandhar, it works naturally as an easy day-trip extension for travelers already exploring Punjab's Golden Temple circuit.