Somewhere in the bowels of Fraser Town is a non-descript place called Pottery Town. It’s not really a town, just a street that houses about 30 potter families. And have been for quite some time now. Apparently, Pottery Town was born when the Government gave 60 potters a designated area on a 30-year lease. Over the years, the potter’s days of glory has declined and many of the new generation don’t want to take it up.

Getting ready for the festival of lights

This is what I found from a website: “Almost 150 years ago, potters hailing from Dharmapuri in Tamil Nadu migrated to Bangalore to explore new markets. In 1928, the British resettled them in the present Pottery Town near Frazer Town in the Cantonment area. Since then, this colony has been the single largest producer of pots in the City. With the decline in the use of pots for utilitarian purposes, pottery has been reduced to a decorative symbol.”

The mud also comes from very far away areas like Kanakapura, Gubbi, Hoskote, etc, so the folks need to pay quite a hefty sum for it. Another problem is the lack of space. Everything from mixing the clay and making the products to baking and drying them in their tiny little work sheds. And they also need to use the same for displaying their wares.

A potter @ work making diyas

So how long the traditional pottery industry will survive is anyone’s guess.

Meanwhile, a few of us gathered there on Saturday morning and roamed around the area taking in the sights and sounds. It was rather interesting as it’s a very small place but we soon discovered multiple things happen in that limited area : starting from pots and items being painted, shaped, cleaned, dried and sold!

Different clay items perched on the wall

I was tempted to buy a large beautiful multiple diya for Diwali but since we’d parked very far away, I had to resist the temptation. I would however like to go back there and buy a few things. If you’re looking for lamps for the season, this is a good place to head and to buy in bulk.