THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rajan K, a 60-year-old traditional potter from Nemom in the capital city, is busy making clay pots to be sold on the occasion of Attukal Pongala next week. It has been decades since Rajan started earning a livelihood through his pottery business. He says, “Though many people in my region were involved in the pottery business earlier, I am the only person remaining now. I was introduced to the art by my father who was a traditional potter. After he passed away, I took over his business and started making and selling pots.”
Rajan has been making and selling close to 1,000 pots for `9 each fixed as the wholesale price for temples. “During the festival season, we get orders for around 10,000 from both retail and wholesale buyers before the Covid outbreak. For this, the procurement of sand and clay begins at least three months ahead of the festival. Though the number of devotees allowed to offer Pongala near the temple premises was initially decided to be limited to 200 owing to an increase in Covid spread this year, the government in the recent evaluation meeting considered increasing the number of pilgrims for religious festivals. This is a positive sign and we hope to do some business at least this festival season,” says Rajan.
This traditional potter used to sell pots near East Fort which earned him a decent sum. However, this time, he has decided not to sell pots at East Fort due to lack of demand. “There was a time when the pots were in huge demand and used to get sold quickly. Now, nobody is willing to buy. So, we are pinning our hopes on the order from the temples. We haven’t received any assistance from the government even though the pottery business is in a collapsing state. The cost of procuring sand and clay has also increased. Clay, which is being sold in brick form, costs `8 per one unit. I had to spend around `35,000 for procuring and transporting the clay to my house where I make the pots,” he says.
Many other traditional potters and others in the pottery business are also going through a similar ordeal as the government has issued guidelines restricting public gatherings and hence instructed the devotees to perform Pongala at their respective households due to the Omicron scare. Sudheeshna Kumar of Krishna Pottery, says, “In the past two years, the business had been dull. Around this time, we get bulk orders which range from 1,000 to 3,000 earthen pots of different sizes. Both wholesale and retail buyers bought our pots. A small pot is priced at `40 and the bigger one at `120. However, we haven’t got many orders even this time due to the restrictions imposed initially following the rise in cases.”
“Due to less demand from the people and difficulty in procuring raw materials, we have completely stopped manufacturing pots and procured them from Tamil Nadu this time,” added Sudheeshna. While some of the people in the pottery business recorded no sales, some others were able to make decent sales last year and are hoping for good sales even this year.
Nagaraj A of Ayyappan Potteries who has his shop inside the Chalai market says, “Last year, we thought that the restrictions might affect our business badly. However, we were surprised to see that all our pots got sold. However, those selling pots near roadsides targeting the people from other districts coming to perform pongala have been left in the lurch due to the restrictions in place. “We have been doing wholesale business and every year more than 20 people give us bulk orders. But this time, only two buyers have placed orders,” said Nagaraj.
After two years of poor sales owing to Covid restrictions, the govt’s recent decision to allow more people in festivals has come as relief for city’s potters. However, difficulty in procuring clay and its cost still worry traditional potters