Up to 26 · 270-degree views
The Victoria Folly Shala
The largest on the estate, with 270-degree views over Victoria Lake and the Knuckles. The one guests photograph and then give up on photographing.
Knuckles Mountain Range · Sri Lanka
Host your retreatat Welikande
Yoga, dance, art or writing. Two open-air shalas, twelve private acres, and a week organised around you.
Up to 26 in the largest shalaThe whole venue, or a few roomsThe host stays for free
Bringing a group to the mountains of Sri Lanka gives your students something they will not find at home: two open-air spaces, twelve private acres, and a week where nothing practical is left for you to arrange.
Mist-covered hills, clean air, and a landscape that does most of the work of settling people down.
Beyond the yoga, the local culture, the tea plantations and the waterfalls make the week richer, and the biodiversity of the Knuckles range gives your students something to talk about at dinner.
26
the largest space
Victoria Folly, with 270-degree views
Victoria Folly, with 270-degree views
17
rooms on the estate
the whole venue, or just the rooms you need
the whole venue, or just the rooms you need
12
private acres
inside the Knuckles Conservation Forest
inside the Knuckles Conservation Forest
3
meals a day, cooked here
vegetarian, grown on the estate where possible
vegetarian, grown on the estate where possible
How it works
Three steps, and none of them are logistics
- 01
Tell us about your group
Dates, numbers, what you teach. The form at the bottom of this page takes two minutes, and we come back with availability and a price for your group.
- 02
We shape the week together
Michael and Tush have run enough retreats here to know where first-timers get stuck: the shape of the schedule, how the activities fit around teaching, what to tell your guests before they fly.
- 03
You arrive, and teach
Rooms, meals and mats are in place. Activities and transport are arranged for your group when you want them. The only thing left to run is your practice.
The spaces
Where your group will practise
Two open-air shalas and a spot at the top of the hill. All three are yours when you take the whole estate.
Up to 22
The Yin Shala
Open to the valley, with the lake below and a Buddha at its edge. The room for the slower evening practice: yin, nidra, restorative.
At the top of the estate
The meditation spot
Not a shala, but the highest point of the estate. A small open pavilion at the top of the hill, looking over everything. Where people go to sit before the day starts, and to watch it end.
Your retreat, your way
Bring your vision. We'll help bring it to life.
At Welikande, your retreat begins with your vision. Whether you are creating a yoga, wellness, movement, meditation or transformational retreat, we work closely with you to build an experience that feels truly yours.
From accommodation and logistics to schedules and meals, we support you behind the scenes so you can focus on your guests and your teaching. Meal times and the daily schedule are adapted to your retreat, and when you take the whole property, it is reserved exclusively for your group.
You can also enrich your week with activities and experiences hosted by the Welikande team, from nature and cultural excursions to wellness experiences and local adventures.
Together, we create your signature retreat: thoughtfully designed, personal, seamless and unforgettable.
Two ways to host
The whole venue, or just the rooms you need
Large groups take the estate; smaller groups take a few rooms and share the shalas and the terrace with other guests. Say which one fits, and we quote for it.
For groups of about 15 or more
The whole venue
- All 17 rooms across the three buildings
- The shalas, the pool, the terrace and the kitchen run to your timetable
- No other guests on the estate
- Meal times and the daily schedule set by you
For smaller groups
A few rooms
- The rooms your group needs, in one building where possible
- A shala for your sessions, booked around the other guests' classes
- Meals with the other guests on the terrace, or apart on request
- The simplest way to start, if it is your first retreat here
Where your group sleeps
Seventeen rooms, three buildings, one estate
Every room is private and en suite, with mountain or lake views. Take the whole estate for a large group, or just the rooms you need for a smaller one.
10 roomsMain building
The heart of the estate, beside the terrace where everyone eats. Most of a visiting group sleeps here.
- Solo Traveller
- Twin
- Couple's Double
4 roomsLake View house
A house of its own above the water. A small group often takes its rooms together.
- Solo Traveller
3 roomsVictoria Folly
Next to the largest shala, with its 270-degree views. The rooms closest to the morning practice.
- Double or twin
Activities for your group
Activities run by Welikande, specially for your group
Between your sessions, the Welikande team can take your group out: tea plantations, waterfalls, the village, Kandy, treks in the Knuckles, cooking and painting. Each one is quoted separately from the rent, with transport, lunch and a local guide included.
Guided tours
Cultural tour
By tuktuk with one of our guides to a tea factory, to see how the tea you drink each morning is actually made. Then a local waterfall for a dip in the natural pool, then the nearby village for local food and a Buddhist temple.
Guided tours
Village tour
The same spirit on a smaller scale. Tuktuk to the village to explore, try Sri Lankan street food and shop the markets. There is a chance to try local crafts with the village blacksmith and potter, plus a waterfall and a temple.
Guided tours
Kandy tour
Kandy is both an administrative and a religious city, home to the Temple of the Tooth Relic, one of the most sacred places in the Buddhist world. Kandy Lake sits at its centre. The tour includes either the Tooth Temple or the Royal Botanical Gardens, not both.
Nature
Heeloya trek
With a state-licensed guide through Heeloya National Park. You walk through rice paddies, tea plantations and pine forest, past villagers' homes, while the guide explains the herbs and spices that end up in your dinner. Lunch is at a waterfall, with a swim if you want one.
Nature
Waterfall tour
By tuktuk through the tea plantations to five waterfalls, with a short walk to each and a swim if you fancy it. A picnic is provided, plus a stop at a local tea shop for hot tea and short eats. Along the way you meet the tea-picking crews, who pick twenty kilos of leaves a day.
Get creative
Mandala painting
We built a quiet art room that you can use at any time during your stay. Mandala painting is an old art form that works as a form of meditation, and we are lucky to have a fine art teacher to guide you. Take your wooden disc home, or leave it hanging in reception with the others.
Get creative
Cooking class
A tuktuk ride and a short walk into the rice paddies, where a local cook and her family have rebuilt two authentic paddy houses from mud and wood. You harvest most of what you cook, jackfruit, green leaves, coconut, then make your own lunch in an outdoor kitchen looking out over the paddy fields, and eat it sitting cross-legged.
Get creative
Yoga immersion
A deeper look at the eight limbs of yoga: how the practice is part of a way of living, and how that carries on once you go home. The teacher answers whatever you want to ask.
Quoted separately from the rent. Transport, lunch and a guide included in each.
Off your plate
What you will not have to organise
Everything below is already handled here. It is the part that usually eats an organiser's week, and the reason people come back rather than start over somewhere else.
- Find a caterer, or explain what vegan means.Three meals a day are cooked here, and dietary requirements are normal, not an exception.
- Ship in mats, blocks or bolsters.There are sets for twenty, made locally and kept on the estate.
- Book transport, guides or entrance tickets for the activities.The Welikande team arranges them for your group.
- Hunt for a second space when a session needs to split.There are two shalas, plus the spot at the top of the hill.
- Pay for your own room.The host stays for free.
What your group gets
Everything a retreat needs is already here
You should not have to ship in mats, hire a cook, or explain what vegan means. All of it is standard.
Two shalas, and they are yours
Two shalas across the estate: the Victoria Folly for 26 with its 270-degree views and the Yin Shala for 22, plus the meditation spot at the top of the hill. Take the whole estate and they are yours alone, with no other guests moving through them.
The whole estate, or just the Lake View house
Take all twelve acres for a large group, or the Lake View house alone, which sleeps seven. Either way your group has the place to itself.
Everyone eats together
Three vegetarian meals a day for you and your guests, cooked by Tush, including packed food when you are off-site. Vegan and dietary requirements are normal here, not an exception.
Equipment for twenty
Mats made locally from natural rubber, wooden blocks made on the estate, bolsters upholstered in house. You do not need to fly anything in.
A room for you
The host stays for free, and has exclusive use of the shalas when the whole venue is taken.
Questions hosts ask
Ask something elseBefore you write to us
How many people can I bring?
The largest space, the Victoria Folly Shala, takes 26 and the Yin Shala 22. There are 17 rooms across the estate. Large groups take the whole venue; smaller groups rent a few rooms.
Can we rent just a few rooms?
Yes. Smaller groups rent the rooms they need and share the shalas and the terrace with the other guests. It is often the simplest way to run a first retreat here. Say how many you are and we quote for it.
Will the estate be ours alone?
Yes, if you rent the whole venue: the shalas, the terrace, the pool and the kitchen run to your timetable, and no other guests move through them. No, if you rent just a few rooms for a smaller group: you share the estate and the shalas with other guests.
What is included for my guests?
Your rent includes the accommodation, three vegetarian meals a day, a fully equipped yoga shala and use of the pool. Activities and excursions are run by the Welikande team for your group and quoted separately from the rent.
Do I pay for my own room?
No. The host stays for free, and has exclusive use of the shalas when the whole venue is taken.
Do we need to bring mats or props?
No. Mats made locally from natural rubber, wooden blocks made on the estate and bolsters upholstered in house are kept here, in sets for twenty.
Can you cater for vegans and allergies?
Yes. Three vegetarian meals a day are cooked by Tush, and vegan and dietary requirements are normal here, not an exception. Packed food comes with you when the group is off-site.
How do my guests get here?
Colombo airport is about four hours away and we arrange transfers, $85 per car each way. Kandy, the nearest town and station, is 45 minutes.
Does it have to be yoga?
No. Yoga, dance, art or writing: the spaces are open-air and the week is organised around what you teach.
You will not be doing this on your own
Talk it through
Organising a retreat can be overwhelming, especially the first time. Michael and Tush have run enough of them here to know where people get stuck, and they help with the stages that catch first-timers out: the shape of the schedule, how activities fit around teaching, what to tell your guests before they fly. Come with your idea, your plan and your questions.
The estate, yours for the week
Your group wakes to this, and nobody else is here.
Exclusive use means the shalas, the terrace, the pool and the kitchen run to your timetable, not ours.
