Qila Mubarak

Qila Mubarak, Persian for 'fort of felicity', was the residential palace of the rulers of Patiala in Punjab. Baba Ala Singh, who founded the Phulkian dynasty's Patiala line, built a mud-and-brick fort here in 1763, said to sit on an earlier Mughal fortress, and successive rulers added to it over about 150 years in several styles. Maharaja Narinder Singh built the Darbar Hall in 1859. The complex was later neglected and has decayed since government offices left in the 1960s; in 2004 it was placed on the World Monuments Watch.

The 10-acre complex in the heart of the old city is ringed by bazaars. It is divided into the inner Qila Androon, with 13 chambers painted with Hindu mythological scenes in the Patiala style, and an outer fort. Much of it, including the Shish Mahal, is closed, but the Darbar Hall, now a museum, the Sarad Khana, the Jalau Khana and a display of cannons can be visited.