Diversity of Bogura pottery in peril
Looking at the yogurt tubs made by Bogura’s potters, it is difficult to imagine that the ceramics industry once flourished in the region.
Technology has made pottery production easy and less time consuming but the variety of earthenware, which once existed in Bogura, has disappeared over time, and is now limited to yogurt pots and bowls only.
The history of pottery in Bogura, evident in the artefacts displayed at the Archaeological Museum of Mahasthangarh, dates back to the pre-Mauryan period of the Iron Age, according to Banglapedia.
Assistant Director of Department of Archaeology, Bogura Regional Office, Mujibur Rahman of said, all the artefacts excavated from the ancient city of Pundranagar, located in Mahasthangarh, were made from clay.
During the Pundrabardhan era in 300BC even everyday ceramic tableware and clay utensils took the form of art, he said, adding that the diversity of Mahasthangarh’s pottery depicts that there were many families of potters in this area throughout history.
The potters of Bogura mostly belong to the Pala Hindu community and have been engaged in this profession for generations.
Over the centuries, pottery has lost its importance and relevance after the discovery and use of metals including brass, copper, silver and aluminium, and inorganic materials such as plastic.
Visiting Palpara in Shekherkhola village in Bogura Sadar upazila, this correspondent talked with a number of potters about the current condition of their ancestral occupation.
Goshai Chandra Pal of the village remembered a time when many village markets --- Kalitola, Nunagola and Shekherkhola haats --- would throng every week around pottery trade.
“Even 10 years ago, we would go and sell earthenware and clay toys in the haats,” reminisced the 70-year-old.
Rafiqul Islam, 55, a stationery shopkeeper of Kalitola Bazar in Bogura town, also remembers the haats. “We mostly use plastic and aluminium pots and pans now. If someone needs, they go to Palpara and order pottery,” he said.
Potter Rabindra Chandra Pal, 45, of Palpara echoed Rafiqul.
People are no longer buying earthenware. Now, beautiful, luxurious, durable and varieties of porcelain, plastics, silver, aluminium and other metal utensils are available at much cheaper prices than pottery, he said.
“To survive, we only make different kinds of yogurt pots required by the Bogura’s famous curd industry,” Rabindra added.
Though the demand for pottery declined, making and selling the product has in fact become easier, the potters said.
They no longer have to work hard to prepare the soil with their hands. Potters now can make huge quantities of curd-pots in a short time using electric-motored wheel.
However, the prices of their products did not go up as expected. Female potter Ambika Pal, 50, said, “The price of the soil, electricity, labour costs have all gone up, but our best curd-pot is selling for only Tk 26. Therefore, many are choosing other professions like agriculture, day labour and shop-keeping.”
Moreover, the school goers do not have any interest to join the traditional profession, she said.
Adhir Chandra Pal, 60, said, “About 10 to 15 years ago, we had to go from village to village on foot to sell clay utensils. It was difficult to make a sale of Tk 200 to Tk 250 in one day.”
“But now traders from different districts come with trucks and CNG-run auto rickshaws, and buy our curd-pots in bulk. This has made our life a lot easier but the price of these pots did not increase with the rise in cost of living,” he said.
Although, demand for curd-pots kept the pottery profession alive in Bogura, potters fear that this too will not last long.
Lalita Rani Pal, 48, a female potter of Shekherkola village, said, “If plastic curd-pots arrive at our locality then we all will lose our traditional profession.”
Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation office (BSCIC) in Bogura could not provide any exact data on the total number of potters in the area or the industry’s turnover.
Deputy General Manager (acting in-charge) of BSCIC Bogura Md Zahedul Islam said, “There might be more than 1,000 families of potters in the district. Their present situation is not good because people are not interested to buy earthenware. “
Zahedul said, there are centres in Dhaka and Cumilla to train potters on designed ceramics and if potters come to them, BSCIC will arrange for their training and small loans and microcredits.
However, the potters of Shekherkhola are unaware about BSCIC’s programmes. Goshai Chandra Pal told this correspondent that most potters avail loans from local NGOs. “We have not heard about any training or microcredit facilities from BSCIC.”