Current Time in Patiāla, India

Patiāla is a city in the south-eastern part of the Indian state of Punjab, standing on the flat and intensively farmed plain between the Sutlej and Ghaggar rivers, about 250 kilometres north-west of Delhi. It is the seat of a district of the same name and is often described as the cultural capital of Punjab, a reputation earned through centuries as a princely court.

The city has a population of roughly half a million. Its significance is less industrial than cultural and educational, although it supports engineering works, textile production and a large trade in agricultural machinery serving one of the most productive farming regions in India. Patiāla remains a byword for a certain style of Punjabi living, expressed in its music, dress and hospitality.

Its history begins in 1763, when Baba Ala Singh, a Sikh chieftain of the Phulkian dynasty, laid the foundations of a fort on this spot. The state that grew around it became the largest of the princely states of Punjab and retained considerable autonomy under British paramountcy. Its rulers were famous for their wealth and their patronage, and one of them commissioned the celebrated Patiala necklace from Cartier in the 1920s. After independence the state was merged into the Patiala and East Punjab States Union, and later into Punjab.

The heart of the old town is Qila Mubarak, a mud-brick fortress complex whose inner palace, the Sheesh Mahal, is decorated with mirrors and murals and now holds a museum of medals and paintings. Nearby stand the Moti Bagh Palace, a vast nineteenth-century residence in a mixed Rajput and colonial style, the Baradari Gardens with their old trees and pavilion, and the Kali Devi temple, a major place of pilgrimage. The narrow bazaars around the fort still follow the original plan of ten gates.

Culturally the city gave its name to the Patiala gharana, one of the great schools of Hindustani classical vocal music, whose singers are honoured across South Asia. It also gave the language of fashion the Patiala salwar, the loose pleated trousers worn throughout the region, and the generously measured Patiala peg. Festivals, folk dance, wrestling and a strong tradition of hospitality make the atmosphere unmistakably Punjabi.

Education is a particular strength. Punjabi University, founded in 1962 to promote the Punjabi language, is one of the few universities in the world established for that purpose. The Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology is highly regarded nationally, and the National Institute of Sports, the country's principal training centre for elite athletes and coaches, occupies the grounds of a former royal estate.

Transport is straightforward, with rail connections to Delhi, Chandigarh and Amritsar, good highways, and the airports at Chandigarh and Ludhiana within easy reach. Local travel relies on buses and auto-rickshaws.

Patiāla is popular with visitors because it preserves the atmosphere of a princely capital while remaining an ordinary, lively Punjabi city, where palaces, classical music and student life exist comfortably side by side.