Hyderabad: The demand for earthen pots has drastically increased in view of the Muharram month.
As a traditional practice, people put ‘sharbat’ in earthen pots and distribute it among the public during the month of Muharram, especially on the “Youm e Ashura‘, the tenth day of Muharram, the first month of the Hijri Calendar.
The potters in the run-up to the month have made earthen pots with a capacity of five litres and put them up for sale in the Muslim-dominated areas where the sales are high.
“A five-litre capacity pot is priced at Rs 120, and we give a mud plate and a small glass along with it. People have been buying it for generations and the trend continues,” said Vimala, a woman potter at Aliabad.
Some potters paint designs using white colour in the pots to make it more attractive. “It is not compulsory to pour the sharbat in the earthen pot and distribute. It is a practice and we are continuing it,” said Mubeen Ahmed, a cab driver.
The potters at Kumarwadi- Asifnagar and Kumarwadi-Edi Bazaar had crafted the earthen pots in hordes and sold them to local sellers in the city. “We are third-generation members. Our grandfather was a potter, and during Muharram, our family elders made earth pots of five litres capacity and sold them in the market. The demand has come down now. But we still do good business,” said Narsimha, a potter at Edi Bazaar.
