The Kumhar tribe of Pakistan is traditionally maker of terracotta pottery in Pakistan. They live a very basic life and spend their whole life making pottery from clay. Special alluvial mud is chosen and brought into the home and soaked in plain sweet water from the river or stream. Than they give an uneven shape to the mud and put it on their spindle where it is shaped round and the inside of the pot is kept hollow. While they use a special stone to further shape the pot. Bottom is made bigger by holding the wall of the pot with stone from inside and beaten with wooden plank from outside.
The mud pots are commonly used in villages of Pakistan while in cities kids use picky banks made of terracotta. Since the times of Moen Jo Daro and even earlier Mehar Garh and Lakhan jo Daro times, the terracotta pottery was made and used in the Indus valley. In those days the pots were also glazed with fine clay to give them a shine and darker color.
Mud Pot called Dilla is also used as a musical Instrument such musical pots were also found from Moen Jo Daro
A Kumhar making pottry while kids watch him, in Saidpur village Islamabad
Kumhar showing a girl how to make a small goblet
A Kumhar taking out the pickybanks of terracotta from furnace.
Pottery is than loaded on small suzuku vans or donkey carts to be sold in bazaars
Terracotta Pottery has an important role in Pakistani rural society. Speacially the south eastern Sindh province Ladies fetch water in these terra cotty pots for their kitchen.
Kumhar is also known as Kumbhar in south east of Pakistan.
