• Explainers
  • Features
  • Longreads
  • Perspectives
  • Podcast
  • Photo Essays
  • Newsletter
  • Write for Us
  • Donate
LOGIN DASHBOARD

Features

Photo Essays

3 MIN READ

Adapting with time

Deewash Shrestha, December 12, 2021, Bhaktapur

Adapting with time

    Share this article

With changing time and demand, the pottery makers of Bhaktapur are slowly replacing traditional ways with modern technology.

(All Photos- Deewash Shrestha )

Bhaktapur's Pottery Square has long been a focal point of the Kathmandu Valley's ceramic industry. Images of lines of clay wares laid out in the sun to dry while fresh ones are moulded by adept hands are ones that have become synonymous to Bhaktapur Durbar Square. 

Ganesh Kumar Prajapati, 72, has been practicing pottery for over 60 years now. Over the years, he has created countless clay products and witnessed firsthand the many changes the place has undergone.  “I have been a part of this industry when it cost only 5 paisa for clay,” says Ganesh Kumar. 

Today things are a lot more different. With the advancement of technology, traditional ways of pottery are being replaced by modern technology. According to Bishnu Prajapati, Ganesh’s son who also works with pottery, modern technology such as clay-mixing machines, electric pottery machines, and chimneys for heating up the formed wet clayware has made manufacturing pottery easier and faster than in the past. 


Ganesh Kumar Prajapati, 72, has been practicing pottery for over 60 years now. 

Bishnu Prajapati in action at his workshop in Bhaktapur Durbar Square.

In addition, the number of people who practice pottery as a career path is declining, as young people do not see much financial security in the field. But that is a misconception, say those in the industry, adding that a lack of market is the least of their concerns, and that they are instead having a difficult time trying to meet the demand.


Ganesh Kumar Prajapati (front) and Bishnu Prajapati make earthen piggy banks which are in high demand. 

"The market has developed rapidly over the years," says Bibek Prajapati, who has been working in this field since he was 10 years old. “We sell as much as we produce.” 

Having said that, he also acknowledges that there are customers who are moving towards buying plastic rather than clay since it lasts longer. 


Bibek Prajapati has been moulding clay since he was 10 years old.

Bishu Prasad Prajapati, 44, too has seen how the traditional approach towards pottery has swiftly been changing. He has been doing pottery for the past 30 years, as his entire family actively pursued the tradition for generations. 

“Because we use machines now, our production rate has increased a lot but there is always a negative point to everything. We are now getting lazy as we rely too much on the machine,” says Bishnu, whose clay products get sold to different places in Nepal especially Kathmandu and Patan. 


Buddhi Ram Prajapati, 54, has been selling simple utilitarian clay products for more than 40 years, but he recently switched to selling decor products as per demand.

With the increasing demand of clay wares like bowls (usually served as matka biryani) and small tea cups (used for matka chiya), the demand for earthenware has increased too, adds Bishnu. 

Buddhi Ram Prajapati, 54, too has been selling simple utilitarian clay products for more than 40 years. But four years ago, he decided to change things up and make decor products. 


Buddhi Ram Prajapati works at his shop at the durbar square.

“I have to upgrade as per the market demand. I didn’t find much profit while making utility clay products so I started making decoration products,” he says. “The demand for such products is quite high in Kathmandu. You have to adapt with time.”

 



author bio photo

Deewash Shrestha  Deewash Shrestha is a student of Media Studies and a freelancer He can be reached via email: deewash.shrestha@yahoo.com

        



Comments

Get the best of

the Record

Previous Next

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

Features

Culture

11 min read

Portrait of a neighborhood: Na: Gha Twaa

Sajeet M. Rajbhandari - December 13, 2021

Sandwiched between Thamel and Indrachowk, Na: Gha Twaa, or Naghal tole, with its toothache deity and numerous dental practices, has long been a dentistry hub. But things are changing.

Perspectives

9 min read

Beneath our rock bottoms

Nischal Niraula - December 29, 2021

Reflections on one’s lowest to see what lessons can be learnt by the self and society.

Explainers

2 min read

The Record's word of the year 2018

The Record - December 23, 2018

The ultimate revenge of the hill bureaucrats

Culture

4 min read

More cats for Kathmandu

Shristi Sherchan - November 29, 2021

Nepalis by and large tend to prefer dogs as pets but cats, once maligned as bad omens, are slowly winning hearts.

Photo Essays

3 min read

Aging and the elderly

Kalpana Pun - March 5, 2021

Aging gracefully has little to do with skincare and facelifts; aging with dignity is about honoring your age, your journey, and your being.

Features

11 min read

Looking back to keep looking forward

Nishi Rungta - March 4, 2022

The Kathmandu Triennale 2077 attempts to delineate the concept of time, explore the fluidity of identity, and celebrates art in all its forms.

COVID19

Features

4 min read

The new coronavirus strain is here but Nepal has other things on its mind

Dewan Rai - January 18, 2021

The government has relaxed all safety measures and is preoccupied with a political crisis, even as the UK variant of the coronavirus is believed to be much more infectious

Week in Politics

5 min read

Longer lockdown, foul play in Covid19 med deal, PM's heart rate spike, and succour for businesses and the poor

The Record - March 29, 2020

Week in politics: what happened, what does it mean, why does it matter?

  • About
  • Contributors
  • Jobs
  • Contact

CONNECT WITH US

© Copyright 2025 the Record | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy

×