There are few places that make you feel like you were time travelling—they have the uncanny ability to sweep you off your feet and plop you into the past. Bari Kothi in Azimganj, West Bengal, aces that.
Located four hours from Kolkata, the 15-suite property stands as the symbol of a unique period in Bengal's history, when Murshidabad used to serve as a global trade centre, contributing a whopping 5 per cent to the world's GDP in the 1700s. During this golden period, many business families from Rajasthan migrated to Murshidabad, adopting the name "Sheherwalis," meaning "city dwellers." The Dudhorias, who built the Bari Kothi in 1774, were one of them.