Mahabat Maqbara

Rising in a tangle of domes, arches and fluted minarets near Junagadh's Chittakhana Chowk, the Mahabat Maqbara is one of Gujarat's most photographed pieces of princely architecture.

• The complex holds the mausoleums of the Babi Nawabs who ruled the former princely state of Junagadh, and it is visited today purely as a work of secular heritage architecture rather than as a place of worship.
• Construction is generally dated to the late 19th century, with the main tomb of Mahabat Khan II completed in the 1880s and the neighbouring mausoleum finished a little later; taken together, the ensemble is a showcase of the eclectic Indo-Saracenic style that flourished across India's princely capitals.
• What makes the monument unforgettable is its sheer decorative exuberance.
• Onion domes crown the structure, French-influenced Gothic windows pierce the walls, and the stonework crawls with carved arches, brackets and filigree.
• The best-known feature belongs to the adjoining Bahauddin Bhar Vazir mausoleum, whose four corner minarets are wrapped in dramatic external spiral staircases — twisting stone stairways that coil around the towers like ribbon and rank among the most unusual minaret designs in the country.
• Silver-worked doors, intricate arch tracery and a play of light through the carved screens reward visitors who slow down and look closely.
• The maqbara sits in the heart of the old town, an easy stop while exploring Junagadh's layered history of Uparkot Fort, the Ashokan rock edicts and the sacred hill of Girnar nearby.
• Photographers come for the golden-hour light that warms the honey-coloured stone, while architecture lovers linger over the fusion of European, Islamic and Rajput motifs.
• Interiors are often kept locked, so admiring the extraordinary exterior is the main draw; when a caretaker is present you may be able to glimpse the tomb chambers within.
• For food, Junagadh is a paradise for pure-vegetarian eating.
• Cluster your meal around Kalwa Chowk and the railway-station lanes, where pure-veg Gujarati and Kathiyawadi thali houses serve unlimited platters of rotli, shaak, dal, kadhi and farsan.
• Do not miss the town's signature crisp ganthiya (chickpea-flour snack) paired with fried chillies and jalebi at long-running pure-veg farsan shops, and, in the summer season, chilled chaas and famous Gir Kesar mango sold fresh across the old bazaar.