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A Maharaja’s palace that once welcomed King George V and the Dalai Lama, tea estates older than most nations’ independence, and a living Odisha royal family still governing from their ancestral palace—India’s spiritual heart and colonial memory in one region.
Varanasi anchors this region as one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities, and its river heritage runs directly through our collection here. Taj Nadesar Palace was first built by the East India Company in the late 1700s before Maharaja Prabhu Narain Singh of the royal House of Benares acquired it in 1889—a palace that has since hosted King George V and Queen Mary, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, and the Dalai Lama, their portraits still lining its walls today. A short distance along the same riverbank, BrijRama Palace stands as Varanasi’s oldest surviving landmark building, constructed in 1812 and later acquired in 1915 by the Brahmin King of Darbhanga in neighboring Bihar.
Further east, Darjeeling and Kolkata carry a different inheritance entirely—the physical remnants of British colonial commerce and administration. The hill station’s tea estates, among the oldest tea-growing operations in the world, and Kolkata’s colonial mansions reflect an empire’s administrative and mercantile center rather than a Mughal or Rajput one, giving this region an architectural vocabulary distinct from anywhere else in our collection.
Odisha completes the region with a genuinely rare claim: a living, reigning royal family. The Belgadia Palace in Mayurbhanj remains connected to a lineage still recognized locally, offering guests a heritage stay that is neither converted nor commercialized in the way most Indian palace hotels have become, but genuinely still lived in by the family whose name it carries.
Ten properties across three tiers—a Maharaja's palace that has hosted a British king, a Bihar royal family's riverfront acquisition, and Odisha's still-living royal household.
The questions we are asked most often about The Enchanting East — answered through first-hand knowledge of the region’s river heritage, colonial history, and the properties we personally vouch for.
Taj Nadesar Palace—its royal guest list and intimate 10-suite scale make it the most complete expression of the city’s princely history.
BrijRama sits directly on the riverfront ghats as Varanasi’s oldest surviving landmark building; Nadesar sits inland amid mango orchards as a former Maharaja’s private residence—two genuinely different registers of the city’s heritage.
Two to three nights allows time for a working tea estate visit alongside the hill station’s colonial architecture and Kanchenjunga viewpoints.
Yes—it remains connected to Odisha’s Mayurbhanj royal lineage, a genuinely rare status among Indian heritage hotels.
Yes, though the distances are considerable—most guests connect via flight transfers through Delhi or Kolkata.
October to March; Varanasi, Kolkata, and Puri experience pleasant winter temperatures and clear skies during these months.
Rather than a single eastern blur, our collection divides across three states—each carrying a genuinely different historical inheritance, from Mughal-era river palaces to British colonial tea estates to a still-living Odisha royal house.
River Palaces and the Taj Mahal
GANGES RIVER HERITAGE · MUGHAL MONUMENTS · ROYAL GUEST LISTS
Home to Varanasi’s ancient riverfront palaces—one hosting a British king, the other the city’s oldest surviving landmark—alongside Agra’s unobstructed view of the Taj Mahal itself.
Properties Featured:
Colonial Tea Estates and Zamindar Mansions
DARJEELING TEA GARDENS · COLONIAL KOLKATA · BENGALI ZAMINDAR HERITAGE
Working tea estates above Darjeeling, restored Bengali landowning-aristocrat mansions outside Kolkata, and countryside river retreats along the Hooghly.
Properties Featured:
Sacred Pilgrimage and a Living Royal House
JAGANNATH TEMPLE · LIVING ROYAL LINEAGE · BEACHFRONT PILGRIMAGE
Puri’s beachfront proximity to one of Hinduism’s four principal pilgrimage sites, paired with Mayurbhanj’s genuinely still-inhabited 1804 royal palace.
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Our curation standard was forged in the Thar Desert and the royal court capitals of Rajasthan — where ancient fortresses, palace residences, and private tented camps defined our Five-Test Framework. Revisit the founding collection where Levistay began, covering Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Ranthambore, Jawai, Bikaner, and Udaipur.
Whether you are combining a Ganges riverfront stay in Varanasi with a Himalayan tea planter bungalow in Darjeeling or a living royal palace retreat in Mayurbhanj, every itinerary across The Enchanting East is curated personally by our travel directors. Connect with our team to design your custom route.
