Management
Mukul Purohit - Executive Producer & Director
Mukul Purohit is the Executive Producer of Mystic Art Retreats, where he plays a pivotal role in expanding the franchise internationally. With over a decade of multi-regional experience, Mukul has developed expertise in corporate finance, corporate development, global business development, and licensing across various sectors, including Technology, Media, Telecommunications, Healthcare, Life Sciences, Creative Industries, and Hospitality
​​
In addition to his professional endeavours, Mukul is an avid art collector and an investor in emerging sacred artists. He has a profound passion for indigenous cultures and traditions, dedicating his free time to studying their art, rituals, folklore, and cultural geography. Mukul's commitment to the arts is further exemplified through making private investments into emerging artists participation in art fairs around the world. Mukul holds a business degree from the Queensland University of Technology in Australia, an arts degree from the University of Greenwich in London and studied corporate finance from the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
​​
Having lived in multiple countries including the UK, Australia, and the UAE, Mukul is now based in India. He frequently travels in search of ancient marvels, cultural gems, and shamanic traditions, reflecting his deep appreciation for global heritage and spirituality.
Melanie Rhodes - Brand Ambassador
Melanie is a dedicated practitioner of various holistic arts and her desire to further ancient knowledge in contemporary contexts led her to patronising the mystic art retreats. A deep appreciation for the arts in so many of its facets, she is a qualified Architect with a degree in Building & Architecture from the University of Port Elizabeth in South Africa. Melanie has been practicing different styles of yoga such as Iyengar, Bikram, Vinyasa and Kundalini over eighteen years and is also a qualified Asthanga yoga teacher. Her immersion in Ayurveda is reflected in her adopting the medicinal science into her daily lifestyle, attending panchkarma programmes and even taking post-partum care following water-births of her two children – Nathan and India.
Melanie is also a student of the Non-Dual Advaita philosophy of classical Hindu thought with her teacher belonging to the the school of Ramanah Maharshi. With four children she still manages to meditate daily whilst embracing a very busy life with her famous coach-cricketer husband Jonty Rhodes. Their commitment and love for India as a philosophy is not just reflected in them naming their daughter “India” but also their immersive practice in Indian holistic arts and traditions.
Sonali Gurung - Manager - Operations
Sonali Gurung is an innovative entrepreneur, passionate traveler, and dedicated philanthropist with a Master's degree in Mass Communication. Her life journey is deeply influenced by the tranquil mountain landscapes of her upbringing. She integrates her enthusiasm for travel and commitment to building meaningful relationships into her business endeavors and her nonprofit organization, Tathastu Foundation, which aims to provide free education to underprivileged children. As a loving mother to three dogs, Sonali's existence embodies a vibrant mix of adventure, hospitality, and deep connections, all inspired by her lasting bond with the mountains.
Karishma Aggarwal - Company Secretary
Karishma Aggarwal is an accomplished Independent Practicing Company Secretary with industry experience in legal and secretarial services. She specializes in providing comprehensive advisory across corporate laws, business management, mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, debt recovery, intellectual property rights, and FEMA-related matters. Her expertise extends to turnkey business implementation-including company, LLP, and startup registrations-corporate restructuring, secretarial audits, due diligence, compliance management, and drafting and vetting of various agreements and petitions.
​
Throughout her career, Karishma has held key positions with firms such as Kshitij Management Consultants LLP, LetsComply, Arvind K. Jain & Associates, Neptune Infocom, and several legal firms. She is adept at managing complex corporate legal matters, including appearances before courts for mergers, property, and negotiable instrument cases. Karishma handles all compliances for Mystic Art Retreats.
_edited.jpg)
Silvia Maggia - Visual Storyteller
An internationally acclaimed artist, photographer, and film director, Silvia works across documentary film, video art, and photography, bringing deep emotional sensitivity and artistic presence to her work.
​
Silvia Maggi is based in Berlin and was born in Italy in 1982. She studied Sociology at the University of Urbino (Italy) and Visual Journalism in Bilbao (Spain). Her work moves across film, photography, and archival storytelling, blending the personal and the political through a poetic gaze. She explores the intersections between memory, identity, and collective resistance, tracing the emotional landscapes where private histories meet social transformation.
Since 2004, she has been working in the fields of art and documentary film, presenting her work at festivals, art galleries, and universities, including Universidade do Minho (Braga, PT), Royal Geographic Society (London, UK), Centro de Arte de Vanguardia Neomudéjar (Madrid, ES), Yermilov Center for Contemporary Art (Kharkiv, UA), Festival del Cinema Indipendente (Cineteca di Milano, IT), Festival del Cinema Italiano (Rovinj, HR), Italian Film Festival (LA, USA), Centro Cultural de España (Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama), and Radial System (Berlin, DE), among others.
​
Silvia recently led the Visual Storytelling as the official photographer at our Seats of Power II retreat in India where she captured the essence of sacred spaces, intimate practice, and shared transformation with her signature care-based lens. Her ongoing research explores the magic of the feminine and the mystery of death, expressed through deeply evocative visual narratives. These shall also serve as topics for our future retreat offerings.
​
​
​
Carolina Mastio - Destination Curator Italy
Carolina Mastio is a wellness and solo travel advocate from Sardinia, Italy, one of the world’s five Blue Zones — regions where people live longer, healthier lives, and where a deep connection to nature is part of everyday life. Her roots have always inspired her to seek destinations that reconnect us with our essence and the Earth.
She holds an Arts Honours degree in Business and Events Management from Greenwich University in London and a technical diploma in Tourism and Accounting. Over the years, she has also completed training in marketing, tourism strategies, hospitality revenue, negotiation, and social media.
With a background in communication and a deep love for yoga, Carolina creates and curates transformative experiences that blend movement, presence, and cultural exchange. She also brings extensive experience in crafting soulful events — from intimate gatherings to larger-scale productions — and in collaborating with boutique hotels and villas to design conscious hospitality experiences grounded in authenticity and care.
Marta Grigoreva - Destination Curator France
Born in St. Petersburg and based in Monaco, Marta is a celebrated portrait artist blending realist oil painting with Impressionist vibrancy. Trained initially in music (violin/piano conservatory) and economics (master's degree), she shifted to fine arts at Harvard after working at Christie's and Sotheby's in New York.
​
There, she studied portraiture under Nelson Shanks before pursuing full-time painting in Italy and London. A commission from easyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou brought her to Monaco in 2011. Her oil portraits of people, animals, and landscapes—painted directly on canvas—capture personality and emotion, held in private collections across Europe, Russia, and the U.S.
​
Highlights include Nelson Mandela (Palais Princier de Monaco), Princess Michael of Kent, Dr. Elena Ambrosiadou, and soulful pet portraits. She also authored/illustrated the "Napo & Allegra: City Sketches" children's book series, plus works as a Harvard-trained art historian and certified yoga teacher (700+ hours).
Payal Barua - Destination Curator United Arab Emirates
Based in Dubai, Payal is an Integrative Nutrition Health Coach, speaker, and mentor who is passionate about guiding clients towards optimal health. Specialising in gut and hormone health, metabolic wellness, weight loss, fertility, menstrual health, and autoimmune conditions, Payal emphasizes the crucial connection between the body and mind. She believes that the nourishment we provide to both our minds—through meditation, positive psychology, and philosophy—and our bodies—through nutrition and exercise—is essential for overall wellbeing. To support her clients in achieving their health goals, she has designed two comprehensive programs. The first consists of 12 sessions focusing on daily lifestyle habits, understanding the human body's responses to diet, mindset, and nutrition coaching. The second program delves into brain health and the neuro-hormonal pathways essential for transformative change.
​
Payal is also a certified Hatha Yoga teacher from Sivananda Yoga Vedanta in France, with extensive training in yoga for individuals with injuries, disabilities, seniors, and prenatal yoga. She is also an upasak from the SriVidya lineage in Devipuram, India.
​
Fluent in French and English, she has taught yoga in Paris, India, and Dubai, while also coaching private health clients from diverse locations such as Denmark, Chile, and Lebanon.
Her deep commitment to health originates from her personal journey of raising a special needs child. After successfully running a fashion import and export business in Paris until 2012, Payal experienced a transformative shift in her life following the birth of her son. This led her to the realisation that “a happy person is also a healthy person,” and that health serves as the foundation for fulfilling dreams
Ekabhumi Charles Ellik - Founding Member
Ekabhumi Charles Ellik is an award-winning poet, author, devotional artist, yoga instructor, emcee, and event producer. His primary spiritual practice is creating sacred art through ritualized, meditative methods for ceremonial and educational use, helping people recognize divinity in daily life. His artworks appear in yoga studios, homes, and altars worldwide.
​
His name was given by his first guru in 2005 during initiation into a yogic lineage. He has studied with teachers and artists in India and the US, with work featured in anthologies like The Poetry of Yoga and books such as Tantra Illuminated. He authored the Shakti Coloring Book and Bhakti Coloring Book from Sounds True Press. With diverse past roles—from yoga instructor and broker to surfer and poetry slam producer—he taught yoga, art, and writing for two decades across all levels. Now core faculty at livingsanskrit.com and visiting faculty in Shanghai, he teaches intuitively through the arts and gardens in silence on weekends.
 Sonja Picard |  Mavis Gewant |  Tova Olsson |  Elena Jessup |
|---|---|---|---|
 |  Anahita Rao |  Ramaa Venugopalan |  Nirali Kartik |
 Alessanddra Nirrwaan |  Erika Strauss |  Jacqueline Kapur |  Judy Schneider |
 Anita Sinclair |  Samantha Buckley |  Carolina Fonseca |
Spiritual liberation practices are inherently context-specific, emerging from particular cultural, geographic, and historical settings. They require contextual understanding and practice to work effectively—after all, those seeking self-realization in a human body are pursuing a context-bound experience. Thus, anyone immersed in dharma traditions should cultivate relationships with living stewards of those practices and their originating cultures.