History carried downstream.
History carried downstream.
30 September–12 October 2028
Created to celebrate the relationships that have made &Beyond’s first 20 years in Asia so rich, this journey invites guests into a historical conversation shaped by the life’s work of historian and author Rudrangshu Mukherjee. A long-standing collaborator of &Beyond Private Guide Toby Sinclair and co-author of A New History of India, Rudrangshu has spent decades interpreting India’s political, cultural and colonial history.
With Rudrangshu hosting throughout, his insight extends far beyond individual excursions. Daily reflections, selected shared meals and ongoing conversations allow questions to deepen as each place changes the meaning of the last. For a few remarkable days, guests are invited inside a lifetime of historical enquiry and given a rare opportunity to read eastern India as one connected, unfolding story.
Eight nights on the water reveal fertile fields, fishing boats, pilgrimage sites and riverside communities, with opportunities to search for the endangered Gangetic river dolphin.
Rudrangshu Mukherjee brings depth and context to the journey, revealing how the river’s cities, monuments and battles influenced the course of Indian history.
Follow the Ganges and Hooghly rivers through remarkable places shaped by ancient kingdoms, Bengal’s nawabs, the East India Company and European trading powers.
Explore Vikramshila, once a leading centre of Buddhist learning, and the abandoned city of Gaur, whose ruins recall its former importance as a regional capital.
Meet brass workers in Matiari, admire terracotta temple craftsmanship and experience the music and spiritual philosophy of Bengal’s Baul performers.
Hosted throughout by historian and author Rudrangshu Mukherjee, you’ll spend eight nights aboard the ABN Rajmahal, travelling through landscapes shaped by faith, trade, empire and everyday river life. Search for Gangetic river dolphins, explore the ruins of Vikramshila and Gaur, and step ashore in former princely capitals, pilgrimage centres, artisan villages and European trading settlements.
The route has been selected expressly around Rudrangshu’s expertise, bringing together places whose connections are rarely experienced as one continuous story: ancient Pataliputra, the Buddhist university of Vikramshila, the former capitals of Gaur and Murshidabad, the battlefield at Plassey, European trading settlements and Kolkata. As the journey moves downstream, Rudrangshu reveals how the river carried ideas and beliefs alongside commerce and imperial ambition—and how shifts in power transformed the cities and communities along its banks.
1 night Delhi | 1 night Patna | 8 nights cruising the Ganges | 2 nights Kolkata
Stay: Roseate House
Highlights: VIP airport assistance, private transfer to Aerocity, time at leisure
Arrive at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport, where VIP assistance is provided after immigration and customs. Meet your &Beyond representative and transfer privately to Roseate House in Aerocity.
Spend the remainder of the day at leisure. Delhi provides the starting point for a journey that will turn east towards the Ganges, following the river through ancient centres of power, pilgrimage landscapes and the living traditions of Bengal.
Stay: Taj City Centre Patna (Day 2) | ABN Rajmahal (Day 3)
Highlights: Golghar, welcome dinner with Rudrangshu, Takht Sri Patna Sahib, Ganges cruise, historic Mokameh Ghat
Fly to Patna, once the ancient city of Pataliputra. Visit Golghar and either the Bihar Museum or State Museum before joining Rudrangshu and your fellow travellers for a welcome dinner.
The following morning, explore Takht Sri Patna Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Gobind Singh. Continue to the river and embark the ABN Rajmahal for an eight-night cruise. Sail downstream towards Mokameh Ghat, an historic rail and ferry crossing once overseen by naturalist Jim Corbett.
Stay: ABN Rajmahal
Highlights: Munger Fort, East India Company cemetery, Pirpahar Hill, Gangetic river dolphins, Bateshwar carvings
Explore Munger Fort, the East India Company cemetery and Pirpahar Hill before cruising towards Sultanganj. Anchor near Jahangira Island, where rocky outcrops, early Hindu carvings and pilgrimage sites rise from the river.
Continue through a broad stretch of the Ganges where Gangetic river dolphins may be seen. Visit the temple remains and carvings at Bateshwar, followed by Vikramshila, once a renowned centre of Buddhist learning. Rejoin the vessel and cruise towards the confluence of the Ganges and Kosi rivers.
Stay: ABN Rajmahal
Highlights: Rajmahal Hills, lost city of Gaur, Farakka Lock, Baranagar temples, Azimganj mansions, Katra Mosque
Cruise beneath the Rajmahal Hills and explore the abandoned city of Gaur before passing through Farakka Lock. Continue through Bengal, visiting Baranagar’s terracotta temples and the former princely capital of Murshidabad, home to Hazarduari Palace, Katra Mosque and Katgola Palace.
Travel onwards to Kushbagh and Plassey, where Rudrangshu brings the political alliances, betrayals and ambitions surrounding the pivotal 1757 battle to life. End the day with a performance by Baul musicians as the vessel continues towards Katwa.
Stay: ABN Rajmahal
Highlights: Matiari brass workshops, Mayapur’s ISKCON complex, Kalna by cycle rickshaw, 108 Shiva temples
Meet Matiari’s hereditary brass workers and watch artisans shape and polish metal using techniques passed down through generations. Continue through rural Bengal to Mayapur, where an ISKCON monk introduces the organisation’s international headquarters.
The following morning, explore Kalna by cycle rickshaw, visiting its terracotta temples and the distinctive complex of 108 Shiva temples. Cruise towards Kolkata and step ashore in the former French settlement of Chandernagore. Conditions permitting, approach central Kolkata beneath Howrah Bridge.
Stay: ITC Royal Bengal
Highlights: Parshwanath Jain Temple, old Calcutta, B.B.D. Bagh, Indian Museum, farewell dinner
Disembark the ABN Rajmahal and transfer privately to ITC Royal Bengal. Spend the remainder of the day at leisure after your eight-night river journey. The following morning, visit the Parshwanath Jain Temple before exploring old Calcutta and the former colonial precinct.
In the evening, join Rudrangshu for a farewell dinner and final conversation. Revisit the questions and connections that have developed downstream, and consider how the river’s centres of learning, ruling powers, trading communities and living faiths contributed to the making of modern Kolkata.
Stay: ITC Royal Bengal (day use)
Highlights: Farewell breakfast, private airport transfer, travel onward
Check out according to your international flight schedule and transfer privately to Kolkata International Airport for your onward journey.
Rudrangshu Mukherjee is an acclaimed historian, author and educator, and one of India’s foremost scholars of the revolt of 1857. He is Chancellor and Professor of History at Ashoka University, where he served as founding Vice-Chancellor, and was previously Editor of the Editorial Pages at The Telegraph in Kolkata. The author and editor of numerous works on Indian history, he also co-authored A New History of India.
Throughout this limited edition journey along the Lower Ganges, Rudrangshu joins every excursion and presents each evening, connecting the day’s landscapes and encounters to the people, ideas and events that shaped modern India.
Rates are per person sharing, based on double or twin occupancy, with a minimum of 14 guests.
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