Silly Hands Shibari

Silly Hands Shibari is the rope project of the artist and educator Amiya Bhanushali (she/they). On Urbanaut, the platform where it sells tickets, it calls itself India’s first queer-led and only rope-dedicated studio; The Nod Mag was more cautious, describing it as probably the only professional studio in the country devoted to teaching shibari. Accounts of its start differ: Homegrown reported in October 2023 that it was founded during the pandemic, while a May 2025 article in The Nod Mag says Bhanushali launched it the year before.

Origins

Bhanushali told The Nod Mag that she came across an image of a body tied with rope while looking for crochet and embroidery ideas during the COVID-19 lockdowns, and that rope felt like crocheting on the body. Her event biographies say she began practicing in 2021 (one listing says 2022), largely self-taught, and started teaching in 2023. The Nod Mag adds that she learned from online resources such as Shibari Study and from kink community events in Mumbai and Bengaluru. Her workshops and private sessions have since reached Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Goa.

What it offers

Teaching runs through themed workshops rather than a fixed curriculum. An early beginners’ workshop, as described by Homegrown, covered history, safety, negotiation, consent and terminology together with single-column and double-column ties, rope handling and tension; solo sign-ups were welcome, self-tie was an option and photos were not allowed. A later Bengaluru session, Futomomo for Nerds, was a self-tie workshop for all levels on the futomomo thigh tie, including variants used in suspension. Community rope jams in Koramangala are unstructured practice after a short guided welcome, with loaner rope and a hardpoint; one edition added impact play and was marked as not for beginners. Dirty Drawers is a shibari life-drawing series. Private sessions are booked through a form, and the project sells a practice kit within India.

Who it is for

Events are for adults aged 21 and over and center LGBTQIA+ people, with allies welcome. Bhanushali has said she wants the space to be safe for queer, fat, thin, disabled and neurodivergent people, and that her practice, though close to the body, is not sexual. A WhatsApp community of about 250 members discusses gear, negotiation and safe practice.