Velanga Orchards

Tucked away in Bodabandla, a village in Andhra Pradesh, lies Velanga Orchard, home to the pottery studio and residency Slow Pottery. The owners Nikita Dawar and Karthik Ramaraj were inspired by slow living (which finds a shout-out in their name too) and a more intentional lifestyle, so they moved their studio from Bangalore to the charming 50-acre mango orchard that lies on the fringes of a reserve forest. The residential courses, that cover everything from glazing to setting up your own pottery business, run from March and April keeping in mind how hot it gets during the summers. When not working on your ceramic creations in the studio, unwind by the lakes dotting the orchard, spend some quality-time with the resident puppies or give farming a go–Dawar and Ramraj also grow rice, millets and seasonal vegetables at the property.

An ultra-private mango orchard, skirting a reserve forest at the foot of a hill with a couple of lakes nearby. Surrounded by shrub forests endowed with over a 100 species of birds and animals.