This over 200 year old mahal hosts the Bhopal Potters Market every winter: It celebrates art and culture with panache

Gauhar Mahal welcomes the Bhopal Potters Market each winter, blending heritage, clay art, live demonstrations and music into a vibrant celebration of culture.

Published on: Nov 25, 2025, 15:24:39 IST

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Gauhar Mahal in Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) sits by the calm ‘badaa talaab' in a way that feels almost unhurried. The palace is more than two hundred years old and was created by Qudsia Begum. Its mix of Hindu and Mughal design gives it a soft grandness that slowly pulls you in. Every November, the place turns lively as the Potters Market fills the quiet corners with colour, people and clay. Winter begins to settle over Bhopal, and the whole space starts to feel like the city warming up for the season.

Visitors explore colourful pottery, watch live wheel demonstrations, and enjoy music at Gauhar Mahal during the lively Bhopal Potters Market. (Bhopal Potters Market)

By Neha Ravi Khandelwal

Neha Khandelwal
Content Lead, HT Travel | Travel & Lifestyle Journalist
With over 10 years of content writing experience, Neha Khandelwal is a lifestyle journalist and the Content Lead at HT Travel. She specialises in destinations, hotels, aviation, luggage, travel gear, and practical guides that help readers plan smarter and travel better. Her work combines first-hand experience, expert insights, and extensive research to create stories that are informative, useful, and easy to follow.

Career Journey & Experience
Neha began her writing career as a freelance journalist in 2010 before entering mainstream media with The Times of India in 2022. She later joined Hindustan Times, where she has written extensively across travel, lifestyle, home, and consumer trends. Her professional background extends beyond journalism. Before moving into digital media full-time, she spent nearly a decade in interior design, managing residential projects from concept to execution. She also trained in visual merchandising with Shoppers Stop and Pantaloons and worked with women-led startups across design and operations. These experiences continue to shape her storytelling, especially in how she evaluates hotels, design-led stays, hospitality spaces, and travel experiences.

A naturally curious learner, Neha has completed beginner certifications in pottery, scuba diving, baking, creative writing, and other creative pursuits. She has read more than 2,000 books, trained in Bharatanatyam for 8 years, and ghostwritten a book on Ladakh tourism.

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Travel is at the heart of Neha's work. She covers destinations, hotels, airlines, luggage, packing strategies, travel accessories, and emerging travel trends through a mix of reporting, product testing, and conversations with industry experts. A frequent traveller herself, she approaches every trip with a journalist's curiosity and a planner's mindset, focusing on experiences that readers can realistically recreate. From choosing the right cabin bag to decoding hotel openings and destination trends, her writing prioritises practical advice over promotional claims. Her background in interior design also gives her a distinct perspective on architecture, hospitality design, boutique hotels, luxury stays, and thoughtfully designed spaces.

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Neha holds a Master's degree in Interior Design. Her early experience in interior design, visual merchandising, and design operations gives her a unique understanding of aesthetics, functionality, and user experience, adding depth to her coverage of hotels, resorts, and travel spaces.

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"As an avid, research-driven traveller, my goal is simple. To answer the questions you actually have before booking a trip. I cut through the promotional noise with honest reporting and expert insights. Making travel planning seamless, smart, and reliable so you always know where to go next."

Gauhar Mahal: A Queen’s legacy

Qudsia Begum came to power in the early nineteenth century, and the palace reflects her eye for beauty. The arches rise gently. The jharokhas catch light most gracefully. Carved pillars shape the courtyards, and the view of the lake seems to hold the entire setting together. You feel the calm of old Bhopal here. You also sense how this space became a cultural home for the city. It invites gatherings. It encourages art. It makes every event feel grounded in something older and deeper.

Sonia Rashid, co-founder of Koozagari Pottery and one of the organisers of Bhopal Potters Market, pointed out, “This palace celebrates the city, and we are here to celebrate our studio potters from across the country. Today is about them!”

The Annual Bhopal Potters Market

From November 20-23, 2025, the palace shifted into a lively celebration of clay. The first evening opened with a curated show by senior ceramic artists. The next three days carried the full market from morning to late evening with more than 45 potters arriving from all over India. Their work ranged from simple mugs to sculptural pieces that felt almost meditative.

Crowds gathered around the wheel as artists shaped clay with steady hands. Visitors joined short sessions that let them try their own pot. Obvara firings kept people curious. Drum circles started at noon and came back in the afternoon and evening.

Rayan, a child from the crowd, said he has been visiting this market every year for the drum circle. It is his favourite part. And he buys his grandmother a new cup for her tea every time from his pocket money.

Children from NGOs Arushi and Muskaan performed on Friday, and Anubhuti Sharma filled the courtyard with music on Saturday evening. The scent of warm food from Bhopal Bakehouse and Café followed you around the corridors and courtyards, and the whole space felt alive without trying too hard. It was the easiest yet grandest setup one could experience!

Falguni Bhatt, a potter from Kolkata who also organises the Kolkata Potters Market, told HT ShopNow, "I do not participate as a seller every year. But I worked many years ago in Bhopal at Bharat Bhawan, and I love coming back for the lively energy and warm events."

Colourful stalls at the Bhopal Potters Market by studio potters from across India. (Bhopal Potters Market)

Sultana Khan, who has been coming to Bhopal Potters Market since 2011, and also hosts the Bandra Potters Market every year, told HT ShopNow, “Every year is a fun time in Bhopal. I have been coming since the very first market was organised in Bhopal, and the people here are a joy to meet.”

Visitor information and accessibility

Gauhar Mahal sits on VIP Road close to the Upper Lake.

It is about four kilometres from Bhopal Junction and easy to reach by auto or cab.

Nearby landmarks include Shaukat Mahal, which is a short visit if you enjoy local architecture.

Pastel pottery at the Bhopal Potters Market (Bhopal Potters Market)

Indian potters' markets to explore

1. Bandra Potters Market in Mumbai brings together seasonal stalls with festive clay pieces. The mood is casual and perfect for quick finds.

It is scheduled to happen in Bandra West on the November 29-30, 2025 at The Vintage Garden.

2. Kolkata Potters' Market is known for bringing together pottery artists. It usually takes place around February, which is also one of the best months weather-wise in this city!

If potters' markets are too fast-paced for you, you can also visit:

1. Khurja in Uttar Pradesh is known across India for its glazed ceramics. Workshops here produce bright, hand-painted crockery with intricate patterns. The craft has a long legacy and gives a completely different view of clay work.

2. Andretta in Himachal Pradesh offers a quieter experience. The village is surrounded by green hills and has a small but inspiring pottery scene shaped by studio potters who work at an easy rhythm. You can watch the clay process up close and take home pieces that feel rooted in the landscape itself.

Gauhar Mahal brings together clay, culture, and winter charm in a way that lingers long after your visit, leaving you feeling quietly connected within. So if you are looking for a November escape, think Bhopal and visit this beautiful market happening in a little palace.