Somewhere between the sun and sea

From sunsets to lauki, everything's better at CGH Earth’s Tilar Siro, Andamans

05 Sep 2025

I’ve seen a fair amount of sunrises and sunsets in my life. But it was at CGH Earth’s Tilar Siro Andamans that I witnessed the sky unfold in colours unknown — where the horizon blushed with tender pinks and molten golds, and the sun rose from the pristine blue seas, painting the skies in shades of crimson and fire as it ascended into the waiting sky.

Little did I know that the same evening would be surpassed by an even more spectacular moonrise. Or perhaps I had never imagined that black and white could be so captivating — because when the moon rose from the sea at precisely 18:35, it cast a spell upon the waters, turning them into a glistening expanse of liquid diamonds. It was the day after the full moon, and when it slipped behind the clouds, the world was cloaked in darkness, only to reappear with even greater splendour: beautiful, magical and mysterious. The moon’s fleeting disappearance behind the clouds turned my world to darkness, a moment of stillness, waiting for the moon’s return: more brilliant, more magical, more alive than before.

“The material palette emerges from warm woods, sustainable palmyra and coconut juxtaposed with stark concrete stilted base and pre-engineered steel to reduce environmental impact and has a very high recyclability coefficient”

Cyril and Nisha Paul, Ecorhythm Architects

The sun, seas, skies and the moon are constant. What is not constant is what we, as a civilisation, create around them. Standing in the shadows, and shrouded in foliage are 25 rooms on stilts facing the shoreline on the east. With thatched sloping roofs, wooden exteriors, the design language is minimal with clean lines and perfect proportions. Reminiscent of Bawa’s Tropical Modernism. The pathways from the entrance lobby to the rooms offset little courtyards, a waterbody, and quiet pockets that beckon you to pause.

Atop the entrance is the restaurant, and its architecture is strategically oriented to craft alcoves and vantages that led my line of vision towards the sea. The restaurant too, follows
For breakfast, lunch and dinner, I chose a table that looked towards the beach, from the mighty trees. The freshest seafood to organic produce (I never believed bottle guard could taste so good) till I tried it. I never believed that I would enjoy an educational marine walk till I actually made my way into the waters with the kind hosts at Tilar Siro tracing creatures that are far more bewildering than anything that lives on earth, or perhaps even in the skies!

The next morning, I went deep sea diving, my first ever and it does change your life. Vast, blue, and beautifully disorienting, the silence below was louder than anything I’d ever known, the colours were unreal, the creatures otherworldly.

Surfacing back to earth, and inside my delightful room I noticed a rather interesting detail in the bathroom. It has a skylit area for drying clothes. Perfect, I thought to myself, to put away wet swimsuits and clothes away from my line of vision. A small inclusion, but a rather thoughtful one. While Tilar Siro Andamans has all the makings for luxury, the overarching intent as conceptualised by Cyril and Nisha Paul of Ecorhythm Architects was to create an architectural grammar that harmonised and complemented the pristine precinct. “The material palette emerges from warm woods, sustainable palmyra and coconut juxtaposed with stark concrete stilted base and pre-engineered steel to reduce environmental impact and has a very high recyclability coefficient,” they say over a Zoom call. Yes, a Zoom call. I am back from my holiday, far away from the Andaman seas on the East, and at my workdesk on the other Westward coast of Mumbai which is a far cry from what the Bay of Bengal holds.