Daria Rajmahal & Huzoor Palace Seafront, Porbandar

Strung along the Arabian Sea where the old town of Porbandar meets the water, the Daria Rajmahal and Huzoor Palace form the grand seafront face of the former Porbandar princely state, once ruled by the Jethwa Rajputs of the Rana dynasty.

• Built during the early twentieth century, in the reign of the Ranas who reshaped Porbandar into an elegant coastal capital, these palaces were designed to be seen from the sea — long, symmetrical facades of pale stone with arcaded verandahs, domed pavilions and finely carved balconies that catch the salt light of the Kathiawar coast.
• "Daria" means the sea, and the name is well earned: the buildings sit almost at the tide line, their ornamented frontage mirrored in the shallows at high water.
• The ensemble is a study in the hybrid architecture of India's princely era, where Rajput craft traditions met European Beaux-Arts planning.
• Huzoor Palace, the more monumental of the two, presents a sweeping horizontal front crowned with cupolas; the Daria Rajmahal adds its own gracious rhythm of arches nearby.
• Together with Porbandar's older Darbargadh (the town palace complex inland), they map the ambitions of a small but prosperous merchant-and-maritime state.
• Visitors should note that these are largely private heritage properties: the interiors are not generally open to the public, and the pleasure is in viewing the facades from the seafront promenade and the adjacent Chowpatty beach.
• Come in the late afternoon, when the low sun warms the stone and fishing boats drift across the horizon, and the palaces glow against the Arabian Sea.
• It is an unhurried, atmospheric stop that pairs naturally with a walk to Porbandar's Kirti Mandir, the heritage memorial marking Mahatma Gandhi's birthplace, a short distance away in the old town.
• For food, stay in the pilgrim-and-town belt where Porbandar keeps a strong pure-vegetarian Gujarati tradition.
• Look for the pure-veg Kathiyawadi and Gujarati thali houses near MG Road and the town centre, serving unlimited thalis of rotli, shaak, dal, kadhi, khichdi and farsan, alongside simple pure-veg cafes doing masala dosa, khaman, fafda-jalebi and thick buttermilk.
• Being in dry Gujarat, everything here is served without alcohol, and the classic Kathiyawadi thali makes an ideal, hearty meal after a sunset stroll past the palaces.