Loading
Loading
You'll sit at Sudhir's workshop bench in Bicholim, working wet clay into the ghumot's earthen belly before learning how the hide is stretched, pegged and tuned. By evening you'll carry home a small hand-built drum and know exactly why it sounds the way it does.
The ghumot is Goa's signature earthen drum, essential to Hindu devotional music and Ganesh Chaturthi processions alike, but the number of families still making it by hand is shrinking fast.
Traditionally made from a monitor lizard hide stretched over a clay pot, the ghumot has shifted to goat hide as conservation laws changed, while its construction technique has stayed largely the same for generations.
We're still verifying a practitioner for this experience — check back soon.
Morning
Working the clay body on the wheel and shaping the pot
Midday
Drying, and a demonstration of the wood-fired kiln
Afternoon
Stretching and pegging the hide, then tuning the finished drum
Difficulty
Easy — no craft experience needed
Age suitability
10 and up
Shaping the clay body
The wood-fired kiln
Stretching the hidePhotographs from this experience will replace these panels once available.
Do I keep the drum I make?
Your clay body needs a week of firing, so Sudhir ships the finished ghumot to you after the workshop.
Is this loud or messy?
It's hands-on clay work — expect some mess, but no loud tools.
“Never thought I'd leave Goa with a drum I made myself. Sudhir is endlessly patient.”
Ritu K. · 5/5
“Small workshop, huge amount of knowledge. Loved hearing the kiln stories.”
Marco B. · 5/5
Not a sight to see — a practice to enter.