This Ramzan, Pathiri Chatti adds flavour to potters' lives

Malappuram: The traditional potters who have been struggling to find a comfortable position in the market with a steep decrease in the sales of their product(the baked clay utensils) because of the widespread use of ceramic and stainless steel utensils, have found relief in the Ramzan season.

According to the potters in Malappuram, the sales of earthenware have increased 10 percent this season. “Though we have been facing many hardships to stay in the business, the sales figures of the Ramzan season is of course inspiring,” says Chinnapodan Kondur who hails from a potters colony in Kottakkal.

The increased sales is fuelled by the increased demand for ‘Pathiri Chatti’ a clay vessel specially made for making ‘Pathiri’, the traditional Malabar bread prepared using rice flour.  The potters start the making of Pathiri Chattis and other widely used utensils well ahead of Ramzan to meet the demand. The sales are mostly through shops.

“We get only minimal profit from supplying the vessels to shops. We are getting more profits from traditional street vending. But this practice has its own hardships,” says Chinnapodan. There are 29 potter families at the Kumbharan colony near Kottakkal.

Chinnapodan is also a regular supplier of the earthern pots to the Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala which uses huge clay vessels for the production of Ayurvedic medicine. Besides, an increase in exports to Gulf countries has also given hope to this community. “There is a rise in exports as well. But ultimately we get only minimal profit as compared to the cost of production,” he said.

The price of clay has increased manifold over the years. But the issue lies in bringing this clay to their work stations. “The approval from the concerned authorities including geology department is mandatory to buy and transport clay. We are struggling to cope with these kind of regulations to keep our traditional craft intact,” Chinnapodan said.