by Nawshaba Iqbal
SRINAGAR: Pottery, once an essential part of Kashmiri households, is now fighting for survival. Across districts, potters say demand for earthenware has collapsed by almost 99 percent in the last two decades, forcing many to produce only small decorative pieces or abandon the craft altogether.
A fading inheritance
Abdul Rashid Kumar has worked with clay for 25 years. His father and grandfather were potters, and he learned the art from his father.
“We used to make Thal Baane (round bowls), flowerpots, and Kang (traditional Kashmiri pots). Every house used to buy them,” he said. “Today, these items no longer sell. Instead, we make yoghurt bowls, oil lamps (diya), tumbaknaer (a traditional Kashmiri instrument), and clay cups. People buy them only for decoration or festivals, not for everyday use.”
Kumar said the decline began gradually but has now reached a critical point. “Out of 100 people, maybe one still buys clay utensils. Ninety-nine have switched to plastic, steel, or aluminium. We have no choice but to reduce what we produce.”
When the wheel stopped
The decline is not confined to one village. A grandson of a well-known potter family from Wanpora in Pulwama recalled how his family’s wheel fell silent.
“Plastic and aluminium replaced clay. People stopped paying. We used to get rice instead of money, one teen for a batch of pots,” he said. “Women from our family used to go door to door to sell them. Slowly, buyers disappeared, and poverty forced my grandfather to make a choice.”
That choice was to give up pottery and open a bakery. “It hurt because it felt like erasing part of our story,” he said. “But when I saw my sons doing well in the bakery, I found peace. Still, I miss the wheel.”
For his family, pottery had been more than a trade. It was a way of life. “I remember waking up for school and seeing Dadaji already at the wheel, wearing a kurta, hands muddy, eyes focused. The earthy smell and the sound of spinning clay were part of our home,” he said.
“When I was nine or ten, Abba asked me to try. My hands were shaking, the clay was cold and alive. I made a crooked little bowl. That was the moment I felt connected to something bigger.”
Shaping memory and loss
Potters across Kashmir share similar memories. For generations they shaped earth into everyday essentials: water pots for summer, degchis for wedding feasts, tumbaknari for singers, diyas for festivals. Pottery was a work of patience and skill, passed down like inheritance.
Times, however, have changed. Cheaper materials, faster lifestyles, and the absence of steady income have pushed the craft to the margins. Many families have turned to other professions. “The youth see it as outdated,” the Wanpora potter said. “They want careers that pay well. Maybe one day they will return to it, not for money but for love.”
Clay as art and revival
Despite the decline, traces of demand remain. Decorative clay waterfalls, miniature shikara, and tableware for hotels find a market in Srinagar and tourist centres. For some artisans, these products have become a lifeline.
“This is how we are keeping the wheel alive, not through need but through art,” Kumar said.
Health awareness is also beginning to influence attitudes. Doctors have recommended clay utensils again, calling them safer and better for digestion. “When people used to eat in clay utensils, they stayed healthier,” Kumar said. “Plastic and aluminium are not good for regular use. Some people are returning to clay, but very slowly.”
Hope on the wheel
Potters believe revival is possible but say it requires support. Training, access to markets, and promotion of handmade, eco-friendly goods could help sustain the craft. “If people value these things again, if artisans receive proper support, pottery can return not only as work but as culture,” the Wanpora potter said.
For now, the sound of the wheel has grown rare. Potters say the memory of their craft will endure.
“Remember the potters of Kashmir,” he said. “We shaped earth into beauty and usefulness. Even if the wheel has stopped spinning, the legacy is still alive, in hearts, in hands, and in history.”
