Terracotta items Hatri, Chandol & Haathi, flood markets on Diwali

Days before Diwali, the festival of lights, artisans are working overtime to make available terracotta-made items, including diyas, Hatri, Chandol, idols, Haathi (elephant), Ghoda (horse) and others used for puja on Diwali night.

Diyas of different sizes and shape are available for the festival in local markets. The tradition of burning oil lamps by placing wicks on Hatri, Chandol and Pari, besides diyas, offered a peep into the past when they were the prime sources of light after the sunset, said experts.

Pari is a woman figurine, which has space to place wicks in its two hands. Hatri looks like a one-room house, in which one finds walls on three sides while one side is left open. On the top, lamps are visible in all its four corners and another in the middle. Provisions for three more lamps are also made to place wicks around it. Chandol, on the other hand, has four sides to place wicks and is bigger than the normal diva (earthen lamp). Another form of clay lamp is called Diwali, which is a tower-like structure. It has four places to light the wicks around it, in the middle and another on its top.

The names of traditional clay or earthen lamps used during Diwali puja reflect the age-old Punjabi culture.

Bhola, a trader and potter, said a Diwali prayer remains incomplete without placing terracotta Haathi, Ghoda, idols of Ganesha and Lakshmi. He said being earthen, these were considered pure. After performing the prayer on Diwali night, all these need to be released in a running stream of water.

Even as anthropomorphic and animal terracotta figurines come to represent Harappan sites, which now fall in Pakistan's Punjab province, the tradition is visible even now in different ways during the festival of lights.

Ravi Kumar, a young potter, said customers tend to think of their creations as just an item made of simple earth and argue for charging only a limited price. They should value not only their labour but also creativity which goes into making these pieces of art.

The creation of any terracotta item involves a string of processes requiring physical hard work and patience. After drying the earth, it is pounded to make it in a powder form. Then, it is mixed with water. Upon its acquiring a dense liquid form, it is sieved to ensure that no oversize particle is left. The acquired soil is then kneaded and its rolls are made. Before giving it a final form, it is dried in sunlight and put into hearth for three to four days. Eventually, these figurines and lamps are painted in beautiful colours.

In the digital age with numerous means of entertainment, it is the enthusiasm of residents as well as the potters that has kept this centuries-old tradition alive.

Apart from being locally made, idols of Lakshmi, Ganesha and others are being brought from Agra and Lucknow. Local artisans prefer preparing Diwali, a big earthen lamp, Hatri, elephants, horses, Pari and Kandola (a pot for holding parshad).

Potter Rajiv, selling terracotta items at a shop in Khidoneyan Wala Bazaar, situated in the narrow maze of the walled city, says the sale of terracotta articles picks up around festivals and school students prepare project reports on traditional trades.

He said customers are ready to pay more for terracotta items, provided they are of fine quality besides good looking. Six pieces of small 'diya' cost Rs 10, a piece of Hatri between Rs 20 to Rs 40, a piece of Diwali between Rs 50 to Rs 80 and Kandola and Chandol for Rs 50 to Rs 80.