Looking for a quiet Diwali? Escape to a Moon Dome outside Jaipur

It was the perfect sunset landing into Jaipur. As the captain’s voice came over the intercom—“We are cruising at an altitude of 35,000 feet, where it’s a bone-chilling minus 45 degrees outside while inside we’re a comfortable 25”—I looked out at the stratosphere and the stars were emerging gradually, sharp and untainted by pollution, alongside the occasional flicker of obstruction lights. In that suspended moment, there was only peace, pin-drop silence, a weightless calm, and the quiet joy of simply being present.

After landing in the Pink City, my destination lay an hour and a half away. As the city’s bustle gave way to quieter roads and the dark silhouettes of the mighty Aravallis, I headed towards the outskirts in the direction of Agra, to a village called Achrol, for a glamping experience near the heritage city. The jeep wound through the final stretch—I saw villagers returning home, cattle-herding women calling it a day, and a neat grid of gooseberry trees, half asleep. Ahead, the mountains held a soft glimmer: small white globes, glowing with the moon’s reflection, cradled in the pitch-dark folds of the Aravallis. This, I figured soon, was my stay for the night—a geodesic Moon Dome.

The taxi stopped at the gate, and an ATV took charge of all my baggage, rumbling gently through the still desert night, climbing over rocky, sandy slopes until we reached the Moon Dome. White, with a gently curved shell that stretches taut over a sturdy GI steel frame, the dome’s panoramic transparent front frames a slice of the night sky. From inside, you can see two Luna Airstreams (luxurious stay options), a small tent, and the property’s fine-dining restaurant, Rait, in the moonlit horizon. Further, a few Moon Domes glow in the distance, like giant fireflies, while the rest of the landscape lies in shadow.

Teela, as its brochure reads, is literally “a mound of sand” that sprawls across 20 acres and offers 10 keys: eight Moon Domes and two Luna Airstreams, completing the celestial theme the night sky paints. The former, a spherical space, just 510 sqft, is equipped with a kitchenette (mini fridge included), a dressing area, a lounging area, and washroom. In winters, you can curl in here with a heater, while air-conditioning will keep you comfortable during the hot months. The bed, as you’d imagine, faces the moon, and as your tired eyes retire for the night, you’ll feel your body softened under the vast blanket of the sky.

By day, I woke up with the sun. Two bee-eaters along with a group of jungle babblers had already gathered to greet me outside my dome. I leapt from the bed, grabbed the binoculars, and stepped out to get a closer look. The semi-arid land stretched around me, with native khejri and babool leaves swaying alongside desert grasses in my viewfinder. Off in the distance was a beautiful gazebo-like frame perched on a small sand mound: my breakfast spot this morning.

That’s where I met Garvita Mamodiya, the founder of Teela Jaipur, who knows the sand hills of Rajasthan intimately. Mamodiya’s father owned a large chunk of sand land around, which she has now converted into glamping stays. “My father and I were driving toward the premises at night and we saw the Moon Domes shining in the dark. The white fabric caught the moonlight, and they looked like a cluster of moons tucked into the mountains. That’s when we decided to name them Moon Domes. The Luna Airstreams came later, inspired by the Malibu Airstream trailers. We envisioned them going so well with the Moon Domes that we got them made locally,” she shares.

The shiny silver capsules that make up the Luna Airstreams look like retro space-age relics that somehow perfectly blend with the landscape. Each rests on a steel stilt structure, leading out to a natural wood deck, where a private jacuzzi and a small hammock open up to the sky. The space looks so inviting that I request to be moved to Luna 1 for a night. In less than a minute, I spot a nilgai climbing the rocky slope, catch a brief glimpse of a jackal, and watch two fearless mynahs hopping close by.

“In Mumbai, birds never come this close to people,” I tell Mamodiya. “Here they do,” she replies, “and for one simple reason: they are not in our home, we are in theirs. Teela has been built with a quiet respect for its surroundings: no trees were felled, and the use of heavy machinery was kept to a bare minimum, preserving root systems and keeping the land’s natural contours intact. You will see at least 200 species around, because it is no different than their home.”

On our way back to Rait, the jeep makes a quick stop at the helipad, where private movie screenings are held every night. Lunch is at Rait, a glass-enclosed, multi-cuisine restaurant that feels more like an expansive cabin than a typical dining room. Pampered by the cool air-conditioning, I take in the sumptuous food, gazing at the exotic landscape beyond the windows. After that, I’m ready for my next adventure: ATV riding, which, given the natural topography, seems like a very sound activity to try. Where else in Jaipur could you imagine riding an ATV through such wild terrain?

Back at Luna 1, the design details stand out. A bamboo pergola shades the deck, a full-length window frames the horizon, and the interiors look mid-century in spirit but seem softened by local craft: reclaimed wood on the floors, locally sourced dhurries and carpets, hand-thrown pottery, and crisp linens. 

Before sunset, I make my way to Taaro, Teela’s petite spa tent. With just one bed, it feels intentionally intimate. Its name comes from the Hindi word ‘taare’, meaning stars, and it seems fitting that my next stop is the jacuzzi back on my deck, where I watch the sun drop behind the ridge. That’s where I realise that Teela is less about a set itinerary and more about a palette of moments: they offer 22 curated experiences—from a trampoline that turns into picnic to paintball and headphone parties—but also the quiet permission to make your own.

After a ‘barbeque under the stars’ dinner I linger on the deck, pick up a pillow and my binoculars, and stretch out on the hammock. The same landscape as the day before now feels different. Above me, I can see Arcturus, Vega, Deneb, Antares, Scorpius, and even Aquarius, my zodiac sign, twinkling in the crystal-clear sky. The birds have gone silent, and the moon is glowing bright, just a few nights from being full. If you saw me there, you’d see a picture of a content human lying under a canopy of stars, hills rolling endlessly into the distance. But for me, it is the same calm that I experienced while my flight cruised—peace, pin-drop silence, a weightless calm, and the quiet joy of simply being present—only this time, I am grounded on earth.