By: Kamran Khamiso Khowaja
SUJAWAL: Once again the trend of using clay-made utensils, and water pots for households have started gaining ground in Sujawal, Thatta, and its adjoining areas, as it seems that the common folk has once again realized the importance of clay pots and the benefits of using these pots.
With the increasing demand for plastic and bronze-made utensils, the use of clay pots dwindled but now once again people are turning back towards the use of clay pots in the Larr region of Sindh that includes the areas of Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Thar, and Tando Mohammad Khan.
Almost three decades ago pottery was a profitable business and potters who usually belonged to the Kumbar tribe in Sindh used to earn their livelihood by making and selling clay-made utensils, ornaments, and water pots but by the passage of time the pottery industry faced sharp decline.
Hanif Kumbhar a local potter of district Sujawal has expressed his joy and satisfaction over the increase in the purchase of clay pots and said that the golden era of the pottery industry had returned, skyrocketing prices of plastic and bronze utensils compelled people to purchase clay made pots for the household.
Another potter Jaffar Kumbar said that they had kept the ancestral tradition of making clay pots alive through sheer commitment and endurance despite earning no profit for years.” Despite the sharp decline, we continued with this work and now the days have arrived when we can earn something substantial out of it; he hoped.
Renowned poet Ayaz Amar Sheikh said that; The tradition of pottery in this region traced back hundreds of centuries in the region and the government should assist the potters to drag them out of financial constraints.
Referring to the book of historian Anwer Abbasi Advocate Mumtaz Shah said that Kumbhars in the Larr region of Sindh had been making clay and utensils since 1786 and renowned Sufi Poet Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai had eulogized the spirit of a Potter- Khumbhar who made ornaments and pots from clay.
