Village Pottery Industry- The Rich Heritage Of Majuli Island

Village Pottery Industry || The Rich Heritage Of Majuli Island || Pottery Industry Of Majuli

A Kumar Community Woman When Making  Matir Kalah From Clay Soil

   

Village Pottery Industry || The Rich Heritage Of Majuli Island || Pottery Industry Of Majuli

      Village pottery industry is one of the oldest village industries of Majuli Island. It is running in unorganized form. The industry has been running since the time immemorial. There is a lack of evidence that witnesses the time when the industry was started in Majuli Island. It is also called as clay industry. People like to say clay industry is the oldest art of making earthen pots. People believe that village pottery industry is the missing link of Mohenjo-Dro or Harappan civilization. It reflects the rich heritage of Msjuli Island.           
   
     Village pottery industry is located in Salmora area of Majuli Island, situated on South East bank of mighty river Brahmaputra at a distance of 25 km from Garamur. Majuli Island is famous for a special kind of mud soil which possesses the character like a mineral resource. This soil is locally called "Kumar Mati". The name derives from the fact that, a particular community's people gave the name Kumar and are closely attached to the soil, therefore clay soil is called "Kumar Mati".             
    
     On the basis of Kumar Mati, the ancestral industry village pottery has been running in Majuli Island. The clay soil is used as raw material. It is also noted that this kind of clay soil is not found in entire Majuli Island. Clay soil is nature's gift for the storehouse of Kumar Mati in heart of South East bank of the river Brahmaputra. It is a belt of clay soil that covers Salmora, Sinatili and Dakhinpat village area respectively. The Kumar people of Majuli Island like to stay that the clay soil is stored up to the depth of 40-45 ft of the Earth crust. It is found in the form of layers. Clay soil is glutinous in quality and when it is dried up becomes hard and it is easy to vibe different shape. So it has great value and indispensable raw material of the traditional industry. Significantly, the Kumar people of Majuli Island through their traditional knowledge and experience exert the clay soil fro the depth of river bed. By digging the bottom up to 30 to 45 ft depth the clay soil is existence technique of exhaustion and exploration, prolonged used of clay etc. this peculiar clay soil could be considered as a mineral resource of Majuli Island.

Pictures Of Some Household Clay Products

Village Pottery Industry || The Rich Heritage Of Majuli Island || Pottery Industry Of Majuli

      The village pottery is a traditional household industry. It is free from the modern principle of employment of labour and management. The technique of village pottery bypasses generation after generation traditionally. Each family of the respective villages individually as per their time maintains and manages the industry. It is an art for which all family members work as a labour as well as an organizer. Mentionable that 60% female and 40% male folk or Kumar community is directly engaged with the industry. Sometimes two or more families collectively make arrangements to run the industry. Sometimes two or more families collectively make arrangement to run the industry. Now there are 750 families and out of  700 more than 500 families are directly involved with the household or village pottery industry.             

    In this village pottery industry, people use traditional knowledge and experience as a primary input. Along with these inputs they use a few traditional instruments. The instruments include Wood Pot, Aaphari, Choconi, Cloth, Boliya, Athali, Pitan, Majanee, and Firewood. At first, a Bhati is made by using wood, hay, and bamboo and banana leaf. The Bhati is made deep and round. The raw earthen pots are kept inside the Bhati carefully. With the help of traditional instruments, the people produce clay products 3 times per year. These 3 are locally called "Khep". These a"Khep's" are known as "Aahu Khep", "Shali Khep" and "Becha Khep". The barter system is an important technique of selling earthen products of the village pottery industry. Generally, they exchange the products for paddy produced under Aahu Khep and Shali Khep. But the exchanges of clay products take place in terms of money when they produce under Becha Khep. In these respect, the village pottery industry provides employment opportunities for more than 4500 people of the Kumar community. The industry helps to generate average livelihood more than 35,000/- per family annually. It is one of the highly labour intensive industry is proud for production of many kinds of clay products. These clay products are considered indispensable part of village life. The products are named as- Mola, Murti, Nadia, Choru, Pati Kalah, Dangor Tekeli, Ghot(Tekeli), Dunari, Udhan, Bor Kalah, Chaki, Bhuruka, Mathiya, Vabuki, Dhool Dani, Dhuna Dani, Bonti, Horai, Mala Charu, Gamla, Flower Tub, Negera etc.            

    This traditional industry has a wide market. Basically, the rural market is important. The product has a good demand of all over the upper Assam especially the valley areas of Dhansiri river, Tezpur, Biswanath Chariali, North Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Jorhat, Dibrugarh, and some border areas of Bandardewa, Likabalil etc. of Arunachal Pradesh.   

Also Read: What To See In The Majuli Island      

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