Murshidabad India
178
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Scenic Cruises (74 Cruises)
Scenic Aura
74 Cruises
Uniworld Boutique River Cruise (104 Cruises)
Ganges Voyager II
104 Cruises
| 19 September | 12 days | One-way from New Delhi to Kolkata |
450-628-6241
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| 28 September | 12 days | One-way from New Delhi to Kolkata |
450-628-6241
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Frequently Asked Questions
On the bank of the Hooghly, practically at the foot of the Hazarduari Palace: you walk down the gangway, cross a lawn and the visit begins. Few river calls place the main monument so close to the ship.
Because it preceded Calcutta as capital of the province. It was near here, at Plassey, that a battle in 1757 brought Bengal under British control, and the splendours you visit date mostly from the century that followed that defeat of the nawabs, rulers without a crown.
The "palace of a thousand doors", built between 1824 and 1838 for the nawab Humayun Jah. It bears the signature of Duncan McLeod, a Scottish architect who gave Bengal a Doric monument worthy of a Greek temple, set on the riverbank like stage scenery.
No: nine hundred doors are real, the other hundred are trompe-l'œil. The story goes that they were meant to disorient intruders. It is the anecdote every guide tells, and it happens to be true.
The palace is now a museum: European paintings, porcelain, ceremonial weapons and outsized chandeliers fill the halls. Allow a good hour to walk through, longer if the colonial collections hold you.
The white building facing the Hazarduari, completed in 1847, one of the largest Shia congregation halls in India. Between the two lies an esplanade where schoolchildren, goats and tea sellers cross paths — a scene worth a few minutes of your time.
A mosque built in 1724, its massive minarets rising above a busy quarter a short ride from the palace. Its patron, Murshid Quli Khan, founder of the city, lies buried beneath the entrance staircase: a deliberate humility that still surprises visitors.
A Georgian-inspired residence set in gardens, built by wealthy Jain merchants. It is a reminder that Murshidabad's prosperity did not belong to the nawabs alone, and it makes an interesting counterpoint to the official monuments.
By electric rickshaw, usually arranged by the ship's team. Traffic is light compared with major Indian cities: you meet more bicycles and carts than cars, and the drivers slow at each monument to let the cameras work.
Silk, woven in the district for generations. Stalls near the monuments sell it, and small-denomination rupee notes make purchases easier. Bring water, a hat and shoes that slip off easily too: places of worship are entered barefoot.
