Accommodation
Tushita runs very busy residential courses and does not operate as a guest house. Therefore our rooms are available only for:
- Participants of our scheduled residential courses or group retreats.
- Experienced meditators doing their own individual STRICT Buddhist retreats (of a MINIMUM 10 days duration).
and the following information is relevant only in these cases.
Tushita’s accommodation is basic, but clean and comfortable. If this is your first stop in India, you may have expectations based on Western hotel standards and be disappointed by the lack of amenities in our rooms (this is a Dharma centre, so forget about the mini-bar!).
However, most people who come to study at Tushita are backpackers or long-term travelers on a budget and if like them you have a little more experience of average accommodation standards in India, we are confident that you will be satisfied.
Tushita offers the following accommodation options for students attending our courses and group retreats (individuals wanting to do a personal retreat please see here):
- Single Rooms with private (Indian squat-style) toilet, shared showers (very limited number)
- Single Rooms with shared toilet/showers (very limited number)
- Small Dormitories (3 – 4 beds) with shared toilet/showers
- Large Dormitories (7 – 12 beds) with shared toilet/showers
This means that…
Most accommodation is Dormitory Style
Depending on how many volunteers we have staying here at the time, we only have a total of between 6 – 10 single rooms, and a very high demand for them. We hope to raise enough money to build a new accommodation block soon, but for now we do our best to make everyone comfortable with our limited resources; we know that most people would prefer a single room, but please do not put us in the position of having to say no by asking for a single room if you don’t really need one.
At Tushita we have a tried and tested system and this is how it works: when you register for a course, your name is added to a list. We use the numerical order of this list to allocate rooms at 1pm on the first day of the course. This means that early registration gives you a greater chance of getting a single room. After many years of running these courses, we have found this system to be the fairest and most efficient; please do not put us in the position of having to say no by asking for special accommodation! However, if you are older, physically challenged or have medical problems please let us know, and we will do our best to accommodate your needs. You can see more information about this here.
Facilities in the Rooms
Our rooms are very simply furnished, with a bed and mattress. Pillows, sheets and pillowcases are provided, as well as two blankets per bed. We do recommend and request that you bring your own sleeping bag. It is usually quite cold here in the mountains at night, even if it’s very hot in the plains of India. If you plan to travel anywhere else in this region it is advisable to have your own sleeping bag anyway.
We have some duvets (quilt / comforter/ dooner) available for rental at 400 rupees for the duration of the course. We have a very heavy monsoon season here with 3 months of wet and damp conditions and it isn’t practical/possible for us to store enough quilts to have one available on every bed. In addition, it isn’t necessary for everyone to have a quilt – in most cases the 2 blankets we provide will be enough, and we do expect most students to bring their own sleeping bag. If you do need a quilt, just inform us at check-in (please don’t email us beforehand about it).
Centre Discipline
Please read our Rules of Discipline before considering applying for one of our residential courses/retreats. We are a meditation centre with resident nuns and monks, so couples and men/women must have separate accommodation. Friends and family of the same gender will be asked to stay in separate rooms to help support silence and focus on the course/retreat. You can see more about this here.