Come festive season, terracotta items swarm local market

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, October 16

The ancient art of making toys, pottery and figurines using terracotta still finds a lot of takers, especially when Diwali is round the corner. In the digital age, when kids and youths have a number of entertainment means besides flooding of the market with aforesaid products made of various metals, it is the enthusiasm of residents as well as the potters that has kept this centuries-old tradition alive. The Khidoneyan Wala Bazaar, situated in the narrow maze of the walled city, has been swarmed by terracotta products.

A trader, Roshan Lal, says, “The tradition, somehow, has managed to make its way into the modern era. Even the progenies of potters are switching to other lucrative professions. In this scenario, the talent in this field has witnessed a sharp decline over the years.”

He says shopkeepers prefer to buy terracotta articles from outside the city and sell the same here. For this reason, idols of Lakshmi, Ganesha and other gods and goddesses are being brought from Agra and Lucknow. Local artisans are only preparing Diwali, a big earthen lamp, elephants and kandola (a pot for holding parshad).

Trader-cum-potter Prakash Chand says the sale of terracotta articles has picked up the pace over the years sale. People are ready to pay for terracotta items, provided they are of fine quality besides good looking. School students in considerable numbers turn up to buy toys, he says.

In the days other than those of festivals, most of the shops in this market can be seen dealing in confectionery, stationery, cosmetic products, ready-made garments and other merchandise. A month before the festival of Diwali, the market puts on a different look as terracotta and other festival-related items replace the articles in the shops, recording a great hustle and bustle.

Since the art of pottery fetches a good business for a few days in a year, shopkeepers involved in this trade have to turn to other trades to make a living. Prakash Chand says there has been a 10 per cent hike in the rates of such articles this year.