The Pottery
& Art Retreat

It's a 4-night, 5-day creative retreat at our in-house pottery studio in Tapovan, Rishikesh, built around a complete arc of making: wheel basics, shaping, and a self-directed open studio day. Monsoon is when the studio is at its best: hands in clay, rain on the studio roof, time that doesn't feel like time. The humidity keeps clay workable longer, the light is soft, and there's no better soundtrack to wheel work than rain on the forest outside.

Your 4-night stay, 2 meals a day plus tea and coffee at our in-house cafe, three guided pottery sessions that take you through the full journey: wheel basics on day one, shaping and refining on day two, and finishing on day three, plus an open studio afternoon on day four to work self-directed, daily morning movement sessions, two sound healing evenings, two evenings of music and dance, and a handmade gift from our studio, made and fired on the property.

Completely. The retreat is sequenced exactly for first-timers: day one starts with studio orientation and wheel basics, and each session builds on the last, so by day three you're glazing pieces you actually made. Our studio team guides you hands-on from wedging clay to centering on the wheel. Experienced potters are welcome too: the open studio day and our team's support scale to wherever you are.

You'll take home a handmade gift from our studio, made and fired on the property. Your own pieces need time we can't rush: drying, bisque firing, glazing, and a final firing take longer than the retreat itself. Depending on what you make and the kiln schedule, we'll talk through options for finishing and sending your work on to you. Ask us at the studio: every batch is different.

No: the studio, movement space, and evening sessions are all under cover, so nothing gets rained off. If anything, monsoon improves the work: humid air slows drying, which makes clay more forgiving for beginners, and the studio with rain drumming on the roof is the version of this retreat we'd choose ourselves.

Evenings alternate between sound healing and live music and dance. Sound healing, singing bowls and resonant instruments in a candlelit room, lands beautifully after a day of quiet focus at the wheel. The music and dance evenings are the opposite energy: rhythm, movement, no choreography, no pressure. Two of each across your four nights, with the last evening left free for the cafe or your own quiet.

Ideal for them. Pottery is inherently solitary-but-together: everyone at their own wheel, in their own world, in the same room. The Pod room is priced for single travellers, shared meals and evening sessions make connection easy, and Tapovan in monsoon is one of the safest, most welcoming neighbourhoods in Rishikesh for people travelling alone.

We're in Upper Tapovan, the green hillside above Rishikesh, about 45 minutes from Dehradun's Jolly Grant Airport. In monsoon we recommend flying into Dehradun or taking the train to Rishikesh rather than a long road journey from Delhi on heavy-rain days. Roads to Tapovan stay open through the season: send us your dates and we'll give you an honest picture of that week.

Clothes you don't mind clay on (we have aprons, but clay finds a way), a warm layer for evenings, sandals with grip, a light rain jacket, and something comfortable for movement sessions. We keep umbrellas at the property. Short nails help at the wheel: genuinely the most useful pottery tip nobody gives you.

Yes: many guests add a day or two to keep using the open studio, or bolt on a Fire & Ice contrast therapy circuit, an Ayurvedic spa treatment, or time in our recording studio. Tell us when booking and we'll design the extra days around you.