Sonepur: The potter community of Kumbharapada, best known for its earthen artisans, is remembered ahead of the festival of light.
If anyone visits this village around this time, he will see lines of raw earthen lamps on village roads put up for drying. Elders and children are found busy making earthen lamps. Elders can be seen working at the wheels shaping lamps of larger sizes while women make smaller lamps with their skilled hands and children also chip in doing odd jobs. They laying the lamps in sun for drying. This is a routine work for them during this period of the year.
Gariba Rana says about 400 to 500 lamps are made in a day that involves all his family members. One hundred lamps fetch between Rs 50 and Rs 200 depending on their sizes. ‘Our traditional calling is no longer giving us the income sufficient to run our families,’ he said.
Bhumisuta Rana, a villager, complains that though all villagers here are potters, they do not get government encouragement. They do not get training nor government aid. ‘In other states, artisans use mechanised wheels while still depend on our age-old method,’ complains Bibhisana Rana, a co-villager.
Kulipali, Lakarama, Balijuri, Ullunda, Biramaharajpur, Tarabha and Binika of this block are the other places where potters live. During the run-up to Deewali, these villages are the first choice of wholesalers and businessmen. Even though the market is flooded with LED lights and fancy lamps, these earthen lamps attract an increasing number of buyers.
What they earn during this period will see them through the whole year. However, they get some money from selling pots and terracotta articles. The locals demanded government encouragement to make their traditional business more profitable. PNN