The Pottery - A Cultural heritage in New Style: An Ethnographic Study in the Villages of North 24 Parganas, West Bengal

Abstract

The pottery was originated in Neolithic period, present in recent time and will exist in future. The knowledge and skill of pot making is transmitted from generation to generation within the Kumors community. It is a craft distinctive of agrarian economy. Today pottery in India is fairly a large business with so many small and large scale industries making high class pottery all over the nation. In West Bengal, pottery is also one of the most popular crafts made by Kumors mainly found in the districts of Bankura, Murshidabad, Medinipur (both purba and paschim), Nadia and North 24 Parganas. But it is also a mentionable fact in rural West Bengal that many of the Kumor families are unable to cope up with the forces generated by globalization as well as industrialization and urbanization. Therefore, a large number of Kumor families have been giving up their traditional occupations and searching for some alternatives. On the other hand, those Kumor communities are coping with the forces generated by globalization, industrialization and urbanization have been earning huge amount of cash money. It has been happening in the villages Chaltaberia and Ramkrishnapalli where the Kumors are more interested to make globally demanded terracotta figurines and show pieces by giving new shape, size, decoration and colour instead of traditional style. So we can say that, the pottery, a cultural heritage has been changing its old style in various places of west Bengal. The pottery will may exist in new style in future. The traditional pots are requiring preserving for the future generation otherwise these may be extinct from the country. Therefore, the author did field work among the Kumors of above mentioned two villages for finding out the reasons of why and how the size, shape, decoration, colour and types of traditional pottery have been changed by the Kumors.