VIJAYAWADA: S Venkatesh, a B Tech student of Velagaleru in Krishna district, is a busy man these days. A potter by profession, he is busy making diyas for the festival of lights in front of his modest house at Kummari Veedhi, the potter’s colony.
It is time for him to earn extra buck from selling ‘diyas’ (earthen lamps) and small clay pots. The average income of a family is just Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 a month.Though busy, things are not rosy for Venkatesh or the hundreds of other families of potters living in this area. Many have shifted to other profession to make a living, while others have taken up additional jobs to supplement their income. Many potters also blame the State government’s apathy for the dying art in the State.
Venkatesh is among the very few in Kummari Veedhi who are full-time potters and are keeping the tradition alive in the hope that earthen diyas and other clay goods will make a comeback.Potters also rue the increasing cost of raw material such as soil, wood and fuel and decreasing availability of space for them. D Babu, a young potter says, “We need space to make diyas, but since most potters are poor, we use roadsides for this purpose.” The government should pay special attention and help us in keeping the tradition alive, he added.
B Edukondalu, says that the art of making fine pottery is dying and most of the younger generation are not keen to take it up since it requires hard work. Edukondalu had learned pottery-making from his father.
“None of my children are interested in the profession, citing poor financial returns. Though they learned pottery from me as this is our legacy and we want to forward this to our younger generations, they are hardly interested in taking it up as a profession,” Edukondalu said.“We are hopeful of a good business this year. We started making deepams from last month itself,” says B Samrajyam, a retailer who runs a pottery shop near Sitara bus stop in Bhavanipuram.
Woes plenty
Due to indiscriminate felling of trees, there is shortage of wood.
Drainage of Polavaram project passes through Velagaleru. It has washed out sand in villages forcing potters to get it from far-off places
Rising raw material cost
Due to rise in prices of sand, wood, colours etc., potters are incurring losses this festive season. While red clay costs between `1,000 to `1,200 per kg, white clay costs `800 to `1,000
Switching vocation
As the fortunes of traditional craftsmen plummet, only a few potter families still make lamps in the hope that earthen lamps and allied clay goods will make a comeback. Others have shifted to other vocations to supplement their income
Space constraint
Potter Edukondalu has been into the business since his childhood and, today, he is one of the very few traditional potters in the colony who continues to eke out a living by churning the potter’s wheel