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Ramesh will hand you freshly cut palm fronds and show you how to strip, fold and plait them into fans, mats and roof thatch panels the way his village has for generations. Working with the leaf while it's still supple is part of the skill, and by the afternoon you'll have woven your own fan or small mat to carry home.
Palm-leaf weaving provided rural Goan households with everyday items — fans, mats, roof thatch, baskets — using an entirely renewable, locally available material, and the skill is increasingly confined to older artisans in interior villages.
Palm leaf, plaited while fresh and pliable, has long been used across Goa's interior villages for thatching roofs, weaving fans and mats, and making simple containers, reflecting a resourceful, low-cost tradition of building with what the land provides.
We're still verifying a practitioner for this experience — check back soon.
Morning
Stripping and preparing palm fronds
Afternoon
Plaiting and finishing your fan or mat
Difficulty
Easy — simple plaiting technique
Age suitability
8 and up
Freshly cut palm fronds
Ramesh plaiting a palm-leaf fan
Finished fans and small matsPhotographs from this experience will replace these panels once available.
Is the workshop held outdoors?
Mostly under a shaded structure near Ramesh's home, with fresh air throughout.
What will I make?
A hand fan or small mat, depending on your preference and the day's material.
“Such a simple, meditative afternoon — I keep using the fan I made instead of turning on the ceiling fan.”
Kavita R. · 5/5
“Ramesh's speed with the leaves was incredible to watch, and he was endlessly patient correcting my folds.”
Oliver S. · 4/5
Not a sight to see — a practice to enter.