India Water Portal:
Majuli, the largest river island in the Brahmaputra that is also a cradle of Assamese culture, is slowly shrinking due to the river's wrath, and the lives of the people ebbs and flows with it.
India Water Portal:
Erosion in Majuli, a large island on the Brahmaputra, has left scores of people bereft of livelihoods and hope. While the government has spent crores on anti-erosion measures, it hasn't helped much.
India Water Portal:
Erosion in Majuli, a large island on the Brahmaputra, has left scores of people bereft of livelihoods and hope. While the government has spent crores on anti-erosion measures, it hasn't helped much.
India Water Portal:
Boat-making, one of the main livelihoods at Salmora in Majuli, pottery being the other.
India Water Portal:
This ancient form of hand-beaten pottery is a prominent cottage industry of the island and has been passed down through generations.
India Water Portal:
This ancient form of hand-beaten pottery is a prominent cottage industry of the island and has been passed down through generations.
India Water Portal:
The tools required for hand-beaten pottery.
India Water Portal:
The entire crafting process of this kind of pottery in Majuli is women's domain.
India Water Portal:
The entire crafting process of this kind of pottery in Majuli is women's domain.
India Water Portal:
The entire crafting process of this kind of pottery in Majuli is women's domain.
India Water Portal:
The entire crafting process of this kind of pottery in Majuli is women's domain.
India Water Portal:
One needs to dig about 30-50 feet deep near the river bank to find the kind of clay required for this craft.
India Water Portal:
Bare hands, broken pots
India Water Portal:
They make do with whatever clay they get from the banks but the quality of pots is not the same. Earlier, the sticky soil would bind very well when mixed with sand and would make robust vessels. The pots are now frail and break easily.
India Water Portal:
They make do with whatever clay they get from the banks but the quality of pots is not the same. Earlier, the sticky soil would bind very well when mixed with sand and would make robust vessels. The pots are now frail and break easily.
India Water Portal:
Originally 1250 sq km, Majuli is down by almost a third in the last 30-40 years due to unabated, heavy erosion.
India Water Portal:
Originally 1250 sq km, Majuli is down by almost a third in the last 30-40 years due to unabated, heavy erosion.
India Water Portal:
Those who have moved out of Salmora have forgone pottery. Only in Dhekiakhowa village in Jorhat, where about 90 families were rehabilitated by the government after 2008 floods have managed to keep the pottery industry alive in their new settlement.
India Water Portal:
Meanwhile in Majuli, dreams die at the sound of every withering pot, everyday for hundreds of people who yearn for a single chance from the mighty red river.
India Water Portal:
Pottery tradition barely manages to continue in Dhekiakhowa though people now have to buy clay from other people unlike Majuli where it was once readily available.
India Water Portal:
Broken
India Water Portal:
Will the craft survive?