How a Mud House in Himachal Pradesh Is Helping Build a Community of Creatives
The traditional mud house has been turned into a hostel, where travellers from creative backgrounds can stay and meet like-minded people.
When has doing a humdrum routine job while sitting inside four walls ever inspired anyone? If you’re not the nine-to-five kind, then you’ll get this.
On the bed of river Tirthan, there sits a traditional mud house surrounded by pine trees and the mountains of Himachal Pradesh. It is at a walking distance from a waterfall, and closer to Sainj valley with the cleanest night skies.
Spending a month here would mean waking up to the sound of birds chirping, sitting on the bank of the river, doing yoga, having conversations with fellow creatives, finding inspiration and getting some work done.
At least that’s what the founder of the mud house has in mind.
The inspiration to start the Mudhouse Experiential hostel in Jibhi, Tirthan Valley, came from Rahul Kumar’s own experience. Every time he visited Jibhi, he had to pay a hefty price for the stay.
Always on the lookout for offbeat destinations, he met solo travellers, artists, writers and photographers when he visited Jibhi, who wanted to stay for long, but couldn’t because of lack of spaces where they could interact with like-minded people, while also not burning a hole in their pockets.
So, he turned the traditional mud house into a hostel exclusively for the creative community and made sure staying there was cheap.
“The whole idea was to start a pocket-friendly hostel, where writers, photographers, editors and others from the creative community could have a space to work in the beautiful Tirthan Valley in Himachal Pradesh. In the same space, they get to meet other creative individuals and collaborate with them,” Rahul told The Better India.
Rahul is a filmmaker himself, who looks to collaborate with artists from the world over. In fact, his first project is with the local artists in Jibhi through which he wants to promote their culture.
The hostel was launched on 1 September and has welcomed several guests already.
The price per bed is ₹640 per day, with a weekly discount of 10% and a monthly discount of 30%.
So far, a photographer, a wedding designer, a food blogger and an Israeli traveller have visited the hostel, among other creatives. In the coming days, Rahul is expecting more individuals including four Himalayan writing fellows.
He only accepts a booking after going through the profiles of the guests and having a conversation with them. “It’s not for the alcoholic, ‘drug addict’ crowd. It is for travellers with skill, who can give back to the creative community that I am trying to build here,” he said.
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