Now enrollingWinter 2026–27 Residency · first session 5–7 December 2026
Young woman piping Gohona Bori onto drying boards
The residency · Winter 2026–27

Two nights, one craft, learned the way it has always been learned.

Each winter Turiyo Residency hosts a small number of people who want to travel to Purba Medinipur and learn Gohona Bori-making by hand, directly from the women who make it.

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Now enrolling

Winter 26–27

The Gohona Bori Residency

Claim your spotat the winter piping table.

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Season
Dec ’26 – Feb ’27
First session
5–7 December 2026
Each session
Two nights · food and stay included
Group size
3–4 families at most

The programme is curated by Shimul Sarkar, who runs it alongside his mother, Shilpa Sarkar Maiti, the trainer, and a handful of local women.

Portrait of Shilpa Sarkar Maiti in a red sari and gold earrings
Shilpa Sarkar MaitiTrainer. She learned the craft from Bandana Maiti, Shimul’s grandmother.

There is no syllabus and no certificate. There is a batch of lentils, a season, and people who know what they are doing.

Two nights

Arrive in the afternoon, leave on the third day.

Entirely by hand

No machines. The lentils are ground on sheel-nora, the traditional stone.

Winter only

Roughly November to February, when the mornings sit around 10–15°C.

3–4 families at most

Sessions are kept small so everyone gets close, hands-on guidance.
How the 2-day ritual unfolds

Early start, because the cold matters.

  1. Day oneArrive between 12 noon – 4 pm; meet by 5 pm. The dal goes into water overnight.
  2. Day two, morningGrinding on sheel-nora. The batter, built in two stages.
  3. Day two, middayShaping, in the open, in the sun.
  4. Day two, eveningThe village. Dinner at the Bastu.
  5. Day threeAfter breakfast, the dried bori are packed: what you made, plus a complimentary set. Leave between 10 am – 2 pm.
How the 2-day ritual unfolds, hour by hour
Gohona Bori pieces drying on a board

By hand and by feel

The batter is built in two stages, whisked until it rises. The test is whether a pinch of batter floats.

Times are indicative, not contractual.

Hands piping lentil paste into ornate gohona bori shapes on a steel plate
Whispers of the sheel nora

What you inherit.

  1. 01Selecting and soaking biuli’r dal — the local variant grown in Purba Medinipur fields, from the same family as urad dal but prized here for texture and finish.
  2. 02Grinding on sheel-nora, and why the stone gives a texture a blender does not.
  3. 03Building the batter over two stages, and reading when it has risen.
  4. 04Seasoning, including the use of food-grade poppy seed as a base ingredient.
  5. 05Hand-shaping the alpana-derived patterns.
  6. 06Setting out, sun-drying, judging when a batch is done.
The two nights

What is included.

Included

  • Two nights’ stay at the Maiti Bastu
  • All meals, from a fixed menu the group orders before arrival
  • All materials and ingredients
  • Guidance throughout from the curators and the local women
  • Everything you make, packed for travel
  • A complimentary set of Gohona Bori, on top of what you make
  • Parking at the Bastu

Not included

  • Travel to and from Chauddhachuli: your own arrangements (pick-up and drop from Tamluk or Kolkata can be arranged, for a fee)
  • Personal expenses

Contribution per participant

₹5,000 double occupancy

₹7,500 single occupancy

Children under 13 come free. Room and food included.

Payment: 100% in advance, to Project Solitude LLP. The advance is refunded in full if the organisers cancel a session.

Dates and availability

Winter 2026–27.

The season runs December 2026 – February 2027. The first session is 5–7 December 2026; then 19–21 December 2026, then every alternate weekend in January and February 2027. Check back here for the exact January and February dates. The craft can only be practised in the cool, dry months.

Each session is two nights, with food and stay included, and takes 3–4 families at most. This is deliberate — it is the only way everyone gets real hands-on time.

Residency sessions and availability
SessionDatesGroup sizeStatus
First sessionDates5–7 December 2026Group size3–4 familiesStatusOpen
Second sessionDates19–21 December 2026Group size3–4 familiesStatusOpen
January – February 2027DatesEvery alternate weekend. Check back here for exact dates.Group size3–4 families eachStatusOpen
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Getting here

Chauddhachuli, Purba Medinipur.

Chauddhachuli, Haludbari gram panchayat
Khejuri II block, Purba Medinipur
West Bengal 721432

The Turiyo Residency on Google Maps ↗

From Kolkata
150 km from Kolkata, an easy drive of about 3.5 hours
Nearest rail station
Tamluk
Pick-up and drop
Pick-up from Tamluk or Kolkata, and the drop back, can be arranged for a fee.
Driving yourself
Or make your own driving arrangements: parking is available at the Bastu.
Nearest town
Contai, 36 km
Get directions →
Who this is for

People with the patience for a slow two days.

  • Cooks and food writers.
  • People who work with craft and want to see one that has not been industrialised.
  • Bengalis who grew up eating bori and never watched one being made.
  • Anyone with the patience for a slow two days and the willingness to be bad at something in front of strangers.
Aerial view of a Chauddhachuli street with houses and palms

It is not a retreat and it is not a cooking holiday.

It is a working session in a working village.

Tell us who you are and when you would like to come.

Apply for a session