Destroyed Earthen Wheel, Broken Pots Shatter Lives Of Puri’s Potters

Puri: How will devotees partake of the Mahaprasad and carry it home during this Jagannath Yatra? This is a big question staring in the face of the potters, the devotees and the administration. The devastation wreaked by the extremely severe cyclonic storm Fani in Puri district has left the traditional potters of the Jagannath Temple in the lurch.

About 300 families of the traditional potters of Kumbharapada have lost their house and the pot-making wheel. Supply of thousands of earthen pots to the Jagannath Temple on a daily basis now remains a million dollar question.

Thousands of devotees, who rush to Puri every day for a darshan of the Lords, relish the Mahaprasad (cooked food offered to the Lords) at the Anand Bazar inside the temple premises and also carry it back home in the earthen pots.

“Fani has destroyed our house and earthen wheel and the Salaghara (where the raw earthen pots are made and baked). Unbaked pots worth of over Rs 60 lakh have been soaked in rainwater whereas the baked pots have been damaged by the strong wind,” said Mahendra Bisoyee, a potter of Kumbharapada.

Another potter, Rasananda Bisoyee, said it is not possible for the potter families to reconstruct the Salaghara as it will cost over lakhs of rupees. The estimated loss sustained by the potters in Kumbharapada in the cyclonic storm is more than Rs 6 crore, he added.

Keeping the ensuing Rath Yatra in view, the potters had invested more money and prepared thousands of earthen pots to earn a sizeable profit. But the cyclone destroyed their hopes.

“We request the state government to provide financial assistance to the potters to set up the Salaghara and reconstruct their houses. We also request the chief administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) to personally visit Kumbharapada to assess the extent of damage and submit a report to the state government,” president of the Rajya Kumbhara Sangh, Saroj Kumar Behera told the mediapersons.

Puri collector Balwant Singh said a delegation of the Sangh had met him and submitted a memorandum. “We will sincerely look into their demands and provide them with whatever help can be done to sustain their livelihood,” he added.

The potters of Kumbharapada supply the earthen pots to the tune of Rs 60-70 lakh to the Jagannath Temple during Rath Yatra.