PANCHMURA- THE HEART OF BENGAL TERRACOTTA POTTERY PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS BHASWATI PAL * MRINMOY PAL** *University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India **University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India ABSTRACT West-Bengal stands as one of the largest producers of Terracotta pottery in India. The form of art is spread all over the state, but Teracotta pottery of Panchmura has its own beauty, tradition, appeal and popularity. The study here reveals the uniqueness of Terracotta pottery, its production and it demands. Shrinkage of the market and presence of market middle man resulted very low and irregular income of the households as well as poor economic condition in present economic perspective. To promote the Terracotta craft at National Level and outside more encouragement from the State Craft s Council or Government is highly necessary. A no. of sales outlet and exhibitions should be done to let the common people know more about the uniqueness of the craft. Better exposition should be given to the craftsmen to let them know what the people of outer world like and what they need to add more to their crafts to make it precious for the people of the country and outside. KEYWORDS: Terracotta, Clay, Potter, Craftsmen, Skill, Handicraft. INTRODUCTION: Pottery art in our country is as ancient as our country itself. Anchaeological evidences tells that it was prevalent even during the Indus valley civilization. It is still unknown when it came to Bengal, but the fertile alluvial soil of the Ganges helped it to grow and spread rapidly. Now a day Bengal is one of the largest producers of Terracotta pottery in India. Panchmura village of Khatra sub division of Bankura district in West Bengal, has the vast importance being the abode of terracotta effigy makers. The village is located at 22.9667 degree N 87.1667 degree E with an average elevation of 67 meters. The village consists of the population of 719, (according to the population census of 2011) mostly dependant on Terracotta art and crafts. The Terracotta Bankura horse is the logo of all India handicrafts. Panchmura pottery has its own unique appeal, demand, beauty and popularity and the village forms the heart of Bengal Terracotta. 117
Methodology: The data for the proposed study has been collected both from primary as well as secondary sources. The primary data has been collected from the local people in form of in depth interviews. The interviews were directed by pre-structured questions and were formal. The respondents are selected randomly. Interview consisted the questions related to market related demands, problems in occupation, income, health, impact of middle man on their earning, financial support, benefits etc. The source of secondary data includes different books and sites. Terracotta Art: Terracotta is the hard, moisture free clay partially burnt used for pottery. In Panchmura village the traditional Bankura horses are produced. Its elegant stance and unique abstraction of basic values make it praise worthy. It was originally used for village rituals but now adorns guest room across the world symbolizing Indian folk-art and is also considered as all Indian handicraft logo. The tedious procedure of pottery: Clay is the most important raw material for pottery. The actual work begins as soon as mati (clay) is received. The process is long, taking up days and some items even months to complete. The age old potters wheel or chak is used for construction or making even today. The characteristic feature of this is that the entire product, say horse is not made together, unlike the pots feat were simpler to make. The entire product consists of various pieces which are constructed on the wheel individually and later joined together to give the shape finally. The finished products are then scraped and made even to give smooth finish. Handmade small and intricate parts are joined to main body. Therefore this marked the beginning of an art form that required great expertise techniques and skill. The process does not get over here. After the formation of basic products they are placed to be dried, not under direct sun, as it may lead to minute fractures and result in easily breakable forms. They are left in an open huge space for number of days to let the moisture evaporate completely. The final baking takes place when this is done. The bhati (furnace) used for baking purpose has to be constructed very carefully. Authentically, the fire bhati is made by digging ground in a circular shape followed by lining with bricks and filled with coal (by well to do artisans), cow dung cake or wood and bhusa 118
(by poor artisans). Now a day Electric furnaces are becoming popular as it saves labour as well as cost and can be used repeatedly unlike the handmade bhatis that can be used once. Once the furnace and bhati is prepared it is then lit and fire and the opening of the bhati is sealed. Fee heating takes place depending on products and the artisans choice of colour and strength. This is an overnight procedure taking about 8 to 10 hours usually under normal circumstances. After this the furnace is opened baked products taken out carefully and left to be cooled for 4 to 6 hours. Lastly the art forms got their colour that we see in the market, the true orange or brown colour of Terracotta and thus the finished products is ready for sale. The Artisans (Kumbhakaras) and their mode of life: The handicrafts items are sold at prices above reasonable in the showrooms of our country. It is a fact though feat these art forms are in a miserable condition in most parts of India. Very significant and little have been done for their survival and glorification although a considerable and lot has been said about this. The Kumbhakaras (potters) of Panchmura together with enterprising individuals, under such a dire circumstances realized that they need to be masters of their own destiny, if they wanted to prevent the centuries old Bengal terracotta art from extinction and from this thought their struggle for existence began. The attention paid to intricacy and perfection by the Kumbhakaras is worthy delightful. Each and every piece of any product crafted to its best. Due to lack of availability and an organized market, unarguably it can be said that the art form is losing its prominence. A little re-emergence of the terracotta art took place when cooperatives are formed by group of Kumbhakaras and they came to the forefront. These self financed small group of Kumbhakaras studied the market, they come to know the demand of terracotta, and deducted that a profitable business could thrive. This step of the skilful Kumbhakaras not only provide a regular income source to them but it also opened regular selling opportunities to the sellers. Retail outlets and shops thus set up at various places. Population Distribution of Potters of Panchmura Village, Bankura Distinct: Age Male Female <18 35 35 18-45 62 56 45-60 26 17 >60 13 16 Source: Sample survey (2014-15) 119
Educational status of potter community of Panchmura village, Bankura District Category Number of Member Class IV (Passed) 37 Class VIII (Passed) 28 Class X (Passed) 27 Higher Secondary 17 Graduate 10 Master Degree 7 Source: Sample survey (2014-15) Sample households use to face various constraints including infrastructural, economic and marketing. The infrastructural and economic constraints includes non-availability of proper soil, low performance of co-operative society, High cost of modern technology, production depends on weather, High cost for fuel, low income from this occupation and last but not least next generation less interested. On the other hand marketing constraints includes high transportable cost, high packing cost for large products, limited market for sale, low price for competition all these above constraints resulted the village as well as the craft to lag behind. Future prospects: The Kumbhakaras who are associated with this craft from their very childhood eager to bring their next generation to this and wants to pass the tradition on to keep the huge possibilities of this craft alive. Inspite of all these for the future betterment few proceeding steps should be taken. The village can be regarded as a model village of terracotta art centering the potter families of terracotta art centering the potter families of the area. The Government proposal to turn up the village to a tourist centre is to be accomplished soon. The artisans inflicted with extreme poverty have to be providing bank loan facilities in low interest, health insurance, creating suitable craft preservation centre, Guide lines for proper marketing procedure, creating a sustainable atmosphere for their children s education. More over a proper training centre is to be set up, where the people of other occupations will be able to show their interest for terracotta craft cultivation which should be followed by extensive workshops arrangement with these Kumbhakaras. Here follows a chart to show the differences between the local prices of the crafts and the prices of the same product outside Bengal. 120
Products Local Prices Other States Womens water pot Rs. 200 Rs. 250 Rs. 350 Rs. 450 Giant Horse Rs. 600 (a pair) Rs. 1000 above Small flower vase, Doll Rs. 2 Rs. 10 Rs. 30 Rs. 50 Board with in lay work Rs. 5000 Rs. 6000 Rs. 10,000 Manasa Jhar Rs. 500 Rs. 1000 above Source: Sample survey (2014-15) In this regard the craftsmen feel helpless and this discriminative policy resulted a great hindrances in generating demand and a successful marketing procedure. Plans and procedure as well as programmes have to be undertaken to make sure that inborm versatility and talents of the artisans are protected and promoted, as well as also to help Panchmura Mritshilpi Samiti. Many of the Kumbhakaras have participated and been awarded in district, state and central levels handicrafts competitions organized by small scale cottage industries. Mention may be made of Name Year of Award Award Level Bhutnath Kumbhakar 2001-02, 2002-03 District, State Kanchan Kumbhakar 2001-02, 2010-11 State, State Narugopal Kumbhakar 2010-2011 State Kartick Kumbhakar 2005 State Chandidas Kumbhakar 2012-2013 State Bauldas Kumbhakar 2013-14, 2011-12 District, State Source: Sample Survey (2014-15) Concluding remarks : The heartening facts now is that the skillful crafted finished products are also being exported and the market is also tending to become larger and diverse, as art and crafts lovers all over the state, country and outside are recognizing and appreciating as well as demanding the uniqueness of the delicately and beautifully made forms of terracotta pottery. The constant efforts of the Kumbhakaras to keep afloat goes on. Here lies the law of the world. Survival of the fittest which can be witnessed in this instance. These Kumbhakaras struggled and accepted that compromise is the rule of any game. As patrons and lovers of art and craft form, we can at least make our earnest effort to keep this terracotta art alive. 121
References: 1. Government of India (2011): Brief Industrial Profile of Bankura District in West Bengal, MSME Development Institute Kolkata. 2. Shaw Amar Nath (2011): Documentation of Terracotta Horse of Bankura, Chitrolekha International Magazine on Art and Design. 3. www. potteryindia.com. 122