This week, The Musafir Stories speaks to Darshan Dudhoria, an ardent heritage enthusiast and co-owner of Murshidabad’s first Luxury Heritage hotel!
Today's destination: Murshidabad, West Bengal!
Nearest Airport: Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (CCU)
Nearest Railway Station: Azimganj City Rly Station(ACLE)
Prerequisites - N/A
Packing - Pack according to the weather
Time of the year - Winters are the best time
Length of the itinerary: 3-8 days
Itinerary Highlights:
Darshan starts off the episode by sharing some insights into the history of Murshidabad, previously known as Makhsudabad, the founder Murshid Quli Khan and the small but mighty community of Sheherwalis and their contributions towards the building of Murshidabad.
We discuss the origins of the Sheherwali community, their contributions to building Murshidabad, and some of the iconic members of the community including Jagat Seth.
Darshan delves into the history of the Bari Kothi, the erstwhile home of his Sheherwali ancestors, the decline and the eventual rebuilding and restoration of the property. We also touch upon the important features of the Bari Kothi, now Murshidabad’s first luxury heritage hotel and its architecture.
We also cover some of the iconic experiences offered by Bari Kothi including places like Hazarduari palace, Katra mosque, Kathgola palace, Nashipur Rajbari, House of Jagat Seth, Kiriteshwar temple, Charbangla terracotta temples, and experiences including Tantipara weavers village, Tea on the Ganges and the traditional Raibeshe dance and Baul music performances.
The sheherwali cuisine is an intrinsic part of the Bari Kothi experience - this vegetarian cuisine is a wonderful confluence of jain, bengali and mughlai cuisines and includes dishes like hhaata ka tarkari (vegetable prepared using lotus pod), mocha ka tarkari (banana flower preparation), kathbel chutney (wood apple paste), muri ka laddoo (puffed rice and jaggery sweet), pitha (steamed rice dumplings stuffed with khoya), kache aam ka kheer (ram mango pudding) and bore ka boondiya (a sweet made of white bean powder)
Links:
Bari Kothi’s website::
Bari Kothi on Instagram:
Bari Kothi on Facebook:
Cover Photo by Bari Kothi
Battle music: Sota War (https://freesound.org/people/YleArkisto/sounds/258207/ ) by YleArkisto (https://freesound.org/people/YleArkisto/ ) is licensed under CC by 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ )