For villagers of Denartari in Barpeta District, Clay Work Is A Tradition

A Correspondent

PATHSALA: Denartari (Charal Para) village, which is just 5 km from the headquarter town of Bajali subdivision in Barpeta district, wears a festive look ahead of Diwali. People here are busy giving final touches to the earthen lamps they have made.

Clay work is a tradition in this village where 100 families earn their livelihood by selling clay items like curd pot, flower tub, dhuna pot and earthen lamps. “We purchase the special clay, popularly known as ‘Hira Mati’ from Guwahati at a rate of Rs 5,000 per truck or Rs 3,000 per tractor. Before making any item, the clay is prepared to a semi-solid state and from the semi-solid stock, the final product is made,” said an elderly man in the village.

“We have been making earthen pots for the past 50 years and in our village the tradition has been passed from one generation to another. No one hesitates to work with clay, they learn from the senior members of the family,” said Saraswati Paul, busy making earthen lamps.

The villagers said that they wanted to use machines so that the work would become easier and more clay items could be prepared. But they lamented that they could not afford to buy machines with their limited income. The villagers respect their tradition. In front of their houses one can find stock of the special clay and the fire kiln. Munna Paul, a HS student of Bhattadev University, Bajali, who is also into making earthen lamps, said that though they earned only a meagre amount by selling the clay items, all his family members do clay work.

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