Tak-tak-tak!
The rhythmic sounds are coming from a tarpaulin-covered hut in Kodavatipudi. Mulampaka Bhadraraju is tapping a pot using a chekka sutti, a small paddle-like wooden hammer that moulds a pot into a perfect round shape.
“The thicker chekka sutti is for closing the bottom of the pot. This regular one is for making the bottom more smooth. The thinnest chekka sutti is for smoothening the entire pot,” explains the 70–year-old Bhadraraju who switches between hammers depending upon what is needed.
He says the thinner, regular-sized one is made from the branches of the palm tree (Borassus flabellifer) and the thickest one from the arjuna tree (Terminalia arjuna). He moves to the thinnest chekka sutti and the beat gets significantly quieter.
It takes him about 15 minutes to shape a large pot measuring 20 inches in diameter. If he breaks or ruptures a side, he quickly fixes it by adding clay and repeating the tapping process.









