Pottery retreat · Tapovan · 25–30 September 2026
Six days with your hands in the clay.
Not a drop-in class. A residential pottery retreat at Lily's - mornings on the wheel, meals at the restaurant beside the waterfall stream, the Ganga just beyond.
You do not need a reason. You need a week.
Some people arrive having never touched a wheel. Some arrive with notebooks full of forms they want to throw again. Both sit at the same tables. Both leave with clay under their nails and something they made - imperfect, theirs.
This is the slow version of learning: enough days for the panic to leave your hands, and enough quiet for the river to do its part.
“You learn by making. Mistakes are normal. By the end of the week, you take home pots you shaped yourself.”
How the week feels
25–30 September 2026
A week shaped like clay practice.
Mornings for the wheel. Afternoons for hand-building and finishing. Evenings for the restaurant by the stream, the yoga hall, or aarti down at the ghat.
Arrive. Soften.
Check-in at Lily's, meet the studio team, first evening with clay - no performance, just the feel of it. River aarti if you want to walk down.
Centre. Open. Throw.
Time on the pottery wheel. You learn the basics step by step, with help whenever you need it.
Build by hand.
Coil and slab with the studio volunteers. A short texture walk along the river path - forms that remember where you were.
Trim. Decorate. Load.
Leather-hard finishing, slip and underglaze, kiln loading as a shared ritual. Returning makers go quieter and deeper here.
Close the week.
Share what you made. Plan for greenware or fired pieces. Goodbye chai. The road home with clay still in the seams of your bag.
Held for you.
So you can think about the clay - not the logistics.
- AC room at Lily's, Tapovan
- Meals at the restaurant beside the waterfall stream
- Access to the yoga hall for sound healing, kirtan, or gathering
- Clay, tools, and studio materials
- Instruction with Rishikesh Pottery Studio
- Wheel throwing and hand-building blocks
- Firing / shipping coordinated after when needed
Private room
₹22,000all in
Stay and meals included for the full six days.
Double sharing · per person
₹14,000all in
Shared room and meals included for the full six days.
Collaboration
Lily's hosts. The studio teaches.
You sleep and eat at Lily's Retreats & Stays (, Secret Waterfall Road, Tapovan. Clay practice is led by instructors and volunteers of Rishikesh Pottery Studio - the people who live this craft in the valley every week.
Before you message us
Is this a class or a retreat?
A pottery retreat. You stay at Lily's for six days with meals and a full studio rhythm - not a single drop-in session. If you only want an afternoon taster, the studio's regular workshops are the better fit.
Who is on the studio floor with me?
Instructors and volunteers from Rishikesh Pottery Studio. Hands-on help when a form wants to fall. Quiet when you are in the work.
What if I have never sat at a wheel?
Then this week was built with you in mind. You will be guided, not graded. Clay and tools are provided. The only requirement is showing up with clean hands and a little patience.
What if I already throw at home?
You get the rare thing: uninterrupted days, a river for a neighbour, and studio partners who will push the forms you already care about. Same cohort - different depth.
What does it cost?
₹22,000 for a private room - stay and meals included. ₹14,000 per person for double sharing - meals included. Clay practice with Rishikesh Pottery Studio is part of the week.
How do I hold a place?
Message Lily's on WhatsApp (+91 93896 49659). Ask to save a spot for the Pottery Retreat, 25–30 September 2026 - private or double sharing. We will reply with availability.
Twelve places. One September week.
₹22,000 private · ₹14,000 double sharing · stay & meals included · 25–30 September 2026