Nibong Tebal, Jan 10 – Traditional clay pot makers are working round the clock to ensure enough supply to meet the high demand during the Ponggal or harvest festival, next Tuesday.
As Indians get set to celebrate Ponggal, new clay pots are a must during the celebration in the 10th month of the Tamil calendar, the harvest month.
Clay pots shop owner, K. Devaraj, 62, said the preparations to produce decorated clay pots for this year’s Ponggal festival started in the middle of last year.
“The process of making a clay pot takes about a week, which includes the mixing of clay with sand and flour, shaping according to the size of the clay pot, dry up, heat up and colouring,” he told Bernama during an interview.
He said his 15 workers can produce about 700 quality clay pots in a week to meet with the demands of his customers, mostly from states in the Northern region, such as Penang, Perak, Kedah and Perlis.
Devaraj said he did not increase the price of his clay pot despite the rising cost of living this year.
“We still maintain the same price as last year as we do not wish to spoil the festive mood of our customers by putting extra burden on them but we plan to increase the price by 15 per cent in February, after the festive season,” he said adding that his clay pots are sold for RM1.30 to RM5, according to size and colour.
One of Devaraj’s loyal customer, AA Moorthy, 58, a lorry driver from Perak, said he prefers to buy clay pots from Devaraj’s shop because they are hand-made traditional clay pots and better in quality.
He said for the past 10 years, he always came to this shop to buy clay pots to celebrate ponggal and some of his friends would also order a few from him.
“When I come to this shop, I will buy 10 to 15 clay pots for my friends and family because it is cheap and good quality,” he said.
The festival’s main event will be the cooking of rice from freshly harvested paddy with milk and brown sugar in a new clay pot until it overflows, marking a symbol of another good harvest forthcoming.
Family members gather around the pot to match the milk overflow and chant “Ponggal lo Ponggal” while adding rice as this overflow signifies goodness and wealth for the whole family, according to the Hindu tradition.
The second day of the celebration is known as Mattu Ponggal and is devoted to cows, which are regarded as sacred animals by Hindus.
In villages, cows are bathed and their horns painted and decorated with garlands.
The third day of Ponggal, known as Kanni Ponggal, focuses on eligible single women.
They must dress in new cloths and gold ornaments and offer special prayers to get a good husband.
– Bernama
