Stay
The Home Stay
A village home, Nimad
Two days living in a local family's home — the courtyard, the village, and the evening on the roof.
Nimad, Madhya Pradesh
You are invited to an Indian wedding.
Eightdays in one family's home in Nimad, for the marriage of their daughter — with the river town of Maheshwar and the abandoned city of Mandu in the days before it.
- Dates
- 19 – 26 March 2027
- Length
- 8 days
- Guests
- 8 places
- Meet at
- Indore
The eight days
Four parts, in the order they happen.
Eight days living in one family's home in Nimad, for the wedding of their daughter. Around it: the river town of Maheshwar, and the abandoned city of Mandu on the plateau above.
Ruined city
Mandu
Mandav, on the Malwa plateau
A walled city of palaces and tombs, abandoned by the court that built it and never reoccupied.
River town
Maheshwar
Maheshwar, on the Narmada
A fort town on the river, and the handloom that has been worked below it since the 1760s.
Wedding
The Wedding
The house and the wedding ground
Six ceremonies over four days, in the order they have been performed for centuries.
What happens, hour by hour
Six moments, over four days.
19:30
Fri 19 Mar
1 hr 30
Arriving at the home
You are received at the door, shown your room, and left to settle. Nothing is scheduled for the rest of the night.
06:30
Sat 20 Mar
2 hrs
Morning in the courtyard
The household is up before the light. The courtyard is swept and a rangoli drawn at the threshold — a pattern made fresh each morning and gone by evening.
09:00
Sat 20 Mar
2 hrs 30
The village on foot
The lanes, the well and the fields at the edge of them, walked with someone who grew up in them. It is a working village and not a preserved one.
21:00
Sat 20 Mar
1 hr
The terrace after dark
Flat roofs are where a Nimadi house spends its evenings. You are welcome on it for as long as you want to be.
09:00
Sun 21 Mar
1 hr 30
The climb to the plateau
The road rises through teak forest before the fortifications begin, running for kilometres with an empty city behind them.
10:30
Sun 21 Mar
1 hr 30
Jahaz Mahal
The ship palace, built long and narrow between two lakes so that it appears to be under sail from the water. It was raised for a court of several hundred women.
12:30
Sun 21 Mar
1 hr
The baobabs
African trees, several metres across, growing on the plateau for some six hundred years. How the first seed reached Mandu is not settled.
07:00
Mon 22 Mar
1 hr 30
The bathing steps at first light
The ghats belong to the town at this hour. Bathing at the river's edge before sunrise is a daily observance here, not an event — the Narmada is addressed as a mother, not a landmark.
11:00
Mon 22 Mar
1 hr 30
The pit looms
Handloom weavers at work on the reversible border that identifies a Maheshwari saree. A single piece takes several weeks to finish.
18:45
Mon 22 Mar
1 hr
Aarti on the waterआरती
Lamps are set on leaves and released into the current at dusk, each one carrying a specific intention. Several hundred are lit within the hour.
09:00
Tue 23 Mar
2 hrs
Haldiहल्दी
Turmeric ground with milk and rose water is applied to the bride and groom by each relative in turn. It is a rite of cleansing before the marriage day, and guests are given a share in it.
16:00
Tue 23 Mar
3 hrs
Mehndiमेहंदी
Henna is drawn on the hands of the bride and the women of both families, then left to darken overnight. The artists will work on your hands if you would like them to.
20:00
Wed 24 Mar
4 hrs
Sangeetसंगीत
The two families perform for one another in song and dance, accompanied by dhol. There is no audience seating — everyone present takes part.
18:30
Thu 25 Mar
2 hrs
Baraatबारात
The groom's procession travels to the wedding ground with a brass band and the horse that carries him. Your pagdi is tied before you join it.
01:15
Fri 26 Mar
2 hrs
Saat Phereसात फेरे
Seven circuits of the sacred fire and seven vows, spoken in Sanskrit. The hour is fixed by the muhurat — the astrologically appointed time — which is why it falls in the middle of the night.
06:00
Fri 26 Mar
1 hr
Vidaaiविदाई
The bride departs her father's house at first light. Rice is thrown back over her shoulder for the household she is leaving. It is the most private moment of the wedding, and guests stand with the family for it.
What is arranged
You reach Indore. The rest is arranged.
Getting yourself to Indore is the only arrangement you make. Everything from the arrivals hall onward is included in the price.
Resort
Every guest is given a private room for the whole stay.
Every meal, included
Every meal is included, from arrival to departure.
A car and a driver
One air-conditioned vehicle with a driver, for the whole journey.
A translator with you
A translator travels with the group and stays with you throughout.
Photography
A photographer covers each ceremony. Every photograph you appear in is yours, in full.
Pagdi
The Nimadi pagdi, tied for you before the procession by someone who has done it for years. Yours to keep.
Before you ask
The questions people actually have.
Everything from the moment you land at Indore until we take you back: rooms, all meals, every car, every ceremony, and the team who travel with you. What is not included is your flight to India and anything you buy for yourself.
No. Your rooms are held at every place the journey stays, under our arrangement with each one. You will not be asked for a card at any desk.
Your passport, your visa, and clothes for warm days and cool evenings. What you wear to the wedding itself is lent to you and fitted before the day.
No. A translator travels with the group for all eight days and is beside you at every ceremony, and your manager speaks English throughout.
You are an invited guest, not an observer. The family have opened their wedding to visitors and every part of the eight days is arranged with them. Where something is private, we say so before it happens.
Yes. A family invitation covers up to four travellers, and children of ten and under do not need a place of their own.
Tell your manager as early as you can. Places are held against a fixed departure, so what can be moved depends on how close to it you are — and it is a conversation, not a form.
Shri Ganesha — an auspicious beginning
The invitation
A Wedding in the Nimad Spring
19 – 26 March 20272 of 8 places left₹2,20,000 · $2,651
A request is not a booking. Someone reads every one and replies by hand within a day, and you decide after that.