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<h2><a id="11836" linktype="page">Vizag potters: idols of clay, immersion in debt  </a></h2><p>The artisans in this AP city usually earn the most during the festival season – starting with Ganesh Chaturthi today. But they have not received a single bulk order for Ganesh idols and other products so far this year</p><h5>August 22, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/amrutha-kosuru/">Amrutha Kosuru</a></h5><h2></h2>

Vizag potters: idols of clay, immersion in debt

<h2><a id="11735" linktype="page">A melting pot of lockdown losses   </a></h2><p></p><p>The Ganpati festival starting this week, then Durga Puja and Diwali, were peak seasons for potters in Delhi&#39;s Uttam Nagar. Now, they are looking at a period of poor sales, as are potters in Kachchh and West Bengal</p><p></p><h5>August 17, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/srishti-verma/">Srishti Verma</a></h5><p></p><p></p>

A melting pot of lockdown losses

<h2><a id="11226" linktype="page">Sitting idol in locked-down Kumartuli</a></h2><p>Business has come to a standstill in Kumartuli, Kolkata’s historic potters’ colony, with almost no demand for Maa Durga idols and other statues. Artisans, vendors and labourers are looking at a season of huge losses</p><p></p><h5>July 09, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/ritayan-mukherjee/">Ritayan Mukherjee</a> </h5>

Sitting idol in locked-down Kumartuli

<h2><a id="10943" linktype="page">Feet of clay: Chhattisgarh&#39;s potters, locked down</a></h2><p>In Dhamtari town, potters missed their peak summer sales season due the lockdown, when making and selling pots became difficult. Despite markets now opening in Chhattisgarh, they are facing an uncertain year</p><h5>June 15, 2020 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/purusottam-thakur/">Purusottam Thakur </a></h5>

Feet of clay: Chhattisgarh's potters, locked down

<h2><a id="5371" linktype="page">Bengal meets Baroda to sculpt Ganpati idols</a></h2><p>Migrant artisans from West Bengal blend idol-making styles in Vadodara, where some, like Tapan Mondal, run signature workshops, while many also work as farm labourers, house painters or in other jobs</p><h5>September 17, 2018 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/ujjawal-krishnam">Ujjawal Krishnam</a></h5>

Bengal meets Baroda to sculpt Ganpati idols

<h2><b><a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/firing-the-last-of-the-pots-in-rasulpur-sohawan">Firing the last of the pots in Rasulpur Sohawan</a></b></h2><p>In Bihar&#39;s Vaishali district, Sudama Kumbhar is still firing the oven though many potters in his village have moved to other work, defeated by rising costs and cheaper alternatives to their hand-made clay items</p><h5>June 25, 2018 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/shubha-srishti">Shubha Srishti</a></h5>

Firing the last of the pots in Rasulpur Sohawan

<h2><a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/articles/kapashis-wheel-of-changing-fortunes">Kapashi’s wheel of changing fortunes</a></h2><p></p><p>PARI volunteer Sanket Jain aims to traverse 300 villages across India and, among other stories, produce this feature: a photograph of a rural scene or event and a sketch of that photograph. This is the first of his series on PARI. Draw the slider either way to see photo or sketch in full.</p><h5>January 2, 2018 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/sanket-jain">Sanket Jain</a></h5><p></p>

Kapashi’s wheel of changing fortunes

<h2><a id="4096" linktype="page">Women at the wheel in the Nilgiris</a></h2><p></p><p>Among the Kota of the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, only women can practise pottery. The craft’s strong religious roots have kept it alive, and attempts to commercialise or modify the traditional products are being debated</p><h5>November 27, 2017 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/priti-david">Priti David</a></h5><p></p>

Women at the wheel in the Nilgiris

<h2><a id="3650" linktype="page">A quarter million hours of pottery</a></h2><p>Vishnu Kumbhar’s family members in Kapashi village of Kolhapur district have been potters for 15 generations. But their rare skills are seldom recognised and they receive no support from the state to keep this great old tradition flourishing</p><h5>August 17, 2017 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/sanket-jain">Sanket Jain</a><p></p></h5>

<h2><a id="2771" linktype="page">Scraping the bottom of the pot</a></h2><p></p><p>The potters of the Kumbhar community of Kalahandi are slowly leaving their traditional occupation. Dwindling demand and low prices have forced them to also sell metal utensils, double up as agricultural labourers, or migrate in search of work</p><h5>June 5, 2017 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/abhijit-mohanty">Abhijit Mohanty</a></h5><p></p>

Scraping the bottom of the pot

<h2><a id="2483" linktype="page">Music, high on pot</a></h2><p></p><p>A suspended mud vessel in the home of a family of pastoralists in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district has a most curious function – and hardly a traditional one</p><h5>January 16, 2017 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/aparna-karthikeyan">Aparna Karthikeyan</a></h5><p></p>

Music, high on pot

<h2><a id="2018" linktype="page">Journey through Kumartuli</a></h2><p>At the centuries-old potters&#39; colony in Kolkata, artisans work through the night on the clay idols that they will soon send out to the city for Durga Puja</p><h5>September 12, 2016 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/sinchita-maji">Sinchita Maji</a></h5>

Journey through Kumartuli

<h2><a id="1213" linktype="page">When Meenakshi beats a pot 3000 times</a></h2><p>Eight kilograms of mud that make a beautiful music in Manamdurai, Tamil Nadu</p><h5>March 8, 2016 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/aparna-karthikeyan">Aparna Karthikeyan</a></h5>

When Meenakshi beats a pot 3000 times

<h2><a id="611" linktype="page">A potter’s tale: a 100 and counting</a></h2><p>&#39;I lived with the art and I will die with the art’</p><h5>July 24, 2015 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/gurpreet-singh">Gurpreet Singh</a></h5>

A potter’s tale: 100 and counting

<h2><a id="531" linktype="page">Baked earth</a></h2><p>In this film, a third generation potter, Buddhadeb Kumbhakar, from Panchmura village of Bankura district in West Bengal, talks about his work and life</p><h5>July 22, 2014 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/kavita-carneiro">Kavita Carneiro</a></h5>

Baked earth

<h2><a id="627" linktype="page">Kumbharwada: a slice of pottery from Kachchh</a></h2><p>Highly skilled potters ​in Dharavi talk about the techniques and troubles of their trade</p><h5>July 22, 2014 | <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/payal-kapadia">Payal Kapadia</a> and <a href="https://ruralindiaonline.org/authors/payal-kapadia-anushka-shivdasani-rovshen">Anushka Shivdasani Rovshen</a></h5><h2></h2>

Kumbharwada: a slice of pottery from Kachchh

The potter's wheel has slowed down

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The potter's wheel has slowed down

A series of PARI stories that highlight the work of skilled potters and the troubles of their trade – falling demand, rising costs and more – that are forcing many to leave this work. Plus some curious uses of the pot

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