Nabadwip

If you cross the Ganges on a regular ferry (they let you cross with scooters, and it costs just a few rupees), you immediately find yourself in Nabadwip, a neighboring island town where tourists barely go and life truly proceeds in a Bengali way.

Right from the ferry at dawn, a breathtaking view opens up: in the morning mist, the enormous dome of the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium is reflected in the calm water, and it seems to float between the sky and the Ganges. An almost mystical picture.

In Nabadwip itself, time seems to have stopped: narrow alleys, old clay houses with carved doors, cows, children, grandmothers in saris; everything as it was hundreds of years ago. Here you aren't photographed or pressured to buy anything; people just smile and go about their business.

Nine islands of spirituality