History of Kapurthala

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Architectural Monuments During Regime

The Maharaja Jagatjit Singh was completely captivated by France, the French Art, the Culture and the Style of LOUIS XIV. His Agrat Palace and gardens were modeled on Versailles. He hired a French architect M. Marcel and entitled the project, the 'Elysee Palace'. Because of exorbitant costs of the building, which started out with red sandstone, had to be finished off with pink plaster. It costed around Rs. 3,00,000 at that time. It was built in renaissance style with the sunken park in the front and has many similarities to that of Palace of Versailles. The construction of Palace took roughly eight years (1900-1908).

Expert European and Indian workmen carried out the interior decoration of the Palace, which is unique of its kind in India. The great Durbar Hall is one of the finest in India and is entirely in the Indian Style appropriate for the ceremonials, which were performed on important occasions. The 'Beaux Arts' so popular in 19th century has been performed at various roofs etc. the center section of Palace was remarkably like a pavilion-end and from Fontainebleau. The Masard roof (it a roof with double slope, the lower being steeper than the upper) with its 'Oeil-de-boeuf' windows were copied from te Paris Louvrs as were the coupled columns lining the blind arcade on the two wings. Lapis Lazuli painting depicting had been brought from Italy

Among other buildings in the State, the most notable are the Courts of Justice, the State Gurudwara, The Moorish Mosque and the magnificent Gurudwara Ber Sahib at Sultanpur. These Buildings are by common consent striking architectural embellishment of Kapurthala and monuments to the refined taste and culture of the Ruler.

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