Traditional Arts Of India - Khurja Pottery

 

With the advent of human civilization, one of the first art forms to evolve was perhaps producing clay pots, figurines and toys. India was no exception to this and if anything this art for highly evolved as evidenced from the discovery of pottery items from the Indus Valley civilization sites like Mohanjodaro and Harrappa. Indian art can broadly be classified into two distinct groups :

Red Clay Pottery (Including Terracotta) – eg. Builder’s brick, roofing tiles, utility items like urns, kulhars, surahi etc.

   Whiteware Pottery – Cups, saucer’s, mugs, tea pots, jars, decorative items, flower vases, pressed porcelain insulators and other heat resisting items.

While Chinese pottery is globally popular and known for producing some of the most exquisite items. India too has it’s share of  the glory like the pottery produced in KHURJA. Khurja, a part of Bulandshahar district in Uttar Pradesh, has carved a niche for itself on the global stage in the field of ceramic pottery.

No one seems to be quite sure of the reasons why the craft has flourished in this part of India, there are quite a few interesting stories about the origins of this art in the region. According to one story, Afghan invader Taimur Lame was accompanied by Egyptians and Syrian potters, during his invasions of India. A few of them chose to settle in this region and practiced their craft.

Another story notes that some potter families moved here during the reign of Mohammed Bin Tughlaq in the 14^th century. Over the period as the families settled in this region and started practicing the art . Another local story credits the Britishers for popularizing the art in this region, starting from the time of second World War when they ordered ceramic loo seats for their soldiers from this part. The seats turned out to be of better quality than they expected. This prompted them to developing and promoting this local art.

Whatever version one might believe but it is a known fact that the Government has it’s fair share of role in developing this area as a pottery hub. The modern phase of pottery manufacture began in 1940’s with the UP Government establishing a pottery factory to cater to the demand of sanitary ware. Also the efforts and role played by prominent ceramic experts like Prof. H.N.Roy and Dr.T.N.Sharma, helped in making Khurja what it is today. Later in 1961 the All India Handicrafts board invited German pottery expert Mr.William Mosech to train local people in making of glazed red clay pottery and artistic pottery using common clay.

What might surprise many of our readers is the fact that despite its popularity , the raw material for Khurja pottery doesn’t come from surrounding areas but from different parts of India. Production process followed here is quite lengthy and labor intensive. It is a proof of the artisans dedication towards this craft who despite remaining anonymous and surviving hardships have kept on producing artifacts which are appreciated world over. The production process broadly goes through the following steps :

·       Clay preparation.

·       Clay molding.

·       Jigger and Jolly process.

·       Smoothening and Painting process.

·       Glazing process.

·       Firing process.

Khurja pottery is protected under the Geographical Indication (GI) and is listed at item 178 as Khurja Pottery of GI Act of Government of India with confirmed registration. Currently there are close to 500 ceramic whiteware industries apart from many smaller establishments. Khurja pottery can broadly be divided into –

Crockery.

Home Décor items.

Sanitary Ware.

Home utilities.

The painting which is done on items produced in Khurja are classified into two categories –

Mughal Art ( Old or Traditional Art ) – It is painted with Cobalt (Cb) Bluish Color followed by a colorless glazing. This is also known as blue pottery.

Normal Painting – This is a drawing of floral or geometric patterns on the pottery items.

Globally Khurja pottery products are colorful, useful and they add the element of chic ethnicity to the surroundings. The cutlery items when displayed on table enhance the beauty of the space. Beside decorative items and crockery there are utility items such as tiles, grinding balls, switches and sanitary ware.

Khurja pottery fascinates not only because of form but also texture of craft items. The potters of Khurja excel and delight us with the use of warm autumnal colors like orange, brown and special red. Floral designs in the sky blue are worked against white background.