The Badshahi Road (Imperial Road) is historically one of the most important roads in

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

. It might be as old as 300 BC This Badshahi road became most prominent connecting road from Maldah (Gour) through Murshidabad to Puri (Orissa) during Mughal period.Land and Local Kingship in Eighteenth-Century Bengal. Author John R. McLane Publisher Cambridge University Press, 2002. , 9780521526548 One can trace a great deal of history along this road. The wide raised road with Masjids (mosques) on every eight miles & the big ponds (dighi) remind the prosperous Mughal time in history. It was the main road for Hindus from North India and Bengal who travelled to the

Jagannath Temple The Jagannath Temple is a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Jagannath, a form of Vishnu in Hinduism. It is located in Puri in the state of Odisha, situated on the eastern coast of India. As per temple records, King Indradyumna of Avanti (reg ...

in Puri, Orissa which happened to be one of the four main centres organized by

Adi Shankara Adi Shankara (8th c. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya (, ), was an Indian Vedanga, Vedic scholar, Hindu philosophy, philosopher and teacher (''acharya'') of Advaita Vedanta. Reliable information on Shankara's actual life is scant, and h ...

(788-820CE). After

Chaitanya Chaitanya or Chaithanya may refer to Philosophy *Chaitanya (consciousness), Hindu philosophical concept People *Chaitanya (name) *Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533), founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism Media *Chaitanya (film), ''Chaitanya'' (film), ...

(1486–1533) and his followers spread the Bhakti movement of

Vaishnavism Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, ''Mahavishnu''. It is one of the majo ...

sect throughout Bengal, the traffic of Bengali pilgrimage going south to Puri and north-west to

Vrindavan Vrindavan (; ), also spelt Vrindaban and Brindaban, is a historical city in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is located in the Braj, Braj Bhoomi region and holds religious importance for Hindus who believe that Krishna, one of ...

on the road increased further.

References

Roads in West Bengal Bengal {{India-road-stub