Asharikandi Terracotta Craft
The elephant-headed mother-and-child doll of the Brahmaputra plain, pinched from grey river clay.
Asharikandi, a village in Dhubri district of western Assam, is the largest terracotta and clay-craft cluster in the northeast. Its potters make the celebrated Hatima Putul — a stylised elephant-headed mother holding a child — along with toys, deities, decorative birds and animals, incense stands, hookah bowls, lamps, tiles and everyday cooking pots, all finished in a warm brick-red or, when reduced in the kiln, a smoky grey. Hundreds of families in and around the village are involved in some stage of the work.
Craft at a Glance
Origin
Asharikandi, Assam
Also Known As
Hental kala, Dhubri terracotta, Asharikandi clay craft
Craft Type
Terracotta and clay figure modelling (hentalfootla / hental kala)
Practising Community
Paul (Kumbhakar / Hira) potter families; a large share of the modellers are women
Materials
Alluvial river clay; bamboo and wooden modelling tools; red ochre and other natural slips, with poster colours used for painted pieces; and rice husk, straw and firewood for firing.
Known For
The Hatima Putul mother-and-child doll and a wide range of folk terracotta figures
Where It's Made
Asharikandi and neighbouring villages in Dhubri district, western Assam
Time to Create
Three to seven days per batch, including drying and firing
GI Status
Asharikandi Terracotta and Pottery Craft is a registered GI of Assam
Process Steps
Processing the clay
Riverbank clay is soaked in water, picked free of grit and roots, and wedged by hand or foot to an even, plastic body.
Moulding hollow forms
Larger hollow figures and vessels are pressed into two-piece clay moulds and the halves are joined with slip.
Hand-modelling toys and dolls
Small toys and the Hatima are pinched and built by hand, with limbs, trunks and heads modelled separately.
Assembling and detailing
Parts are luted on with slurry, and features and ornament are incised and applied with clay pellets and bamboo tools.
Drying
The finished pieces are dried slowly in shade and then sun so they do not crack.
Slipping and burnishing
Some pieces are coated with a red ochre slip and rubbed smooth before firing.
Firing
Dried work is stacked in a pit or updraught kiln with husk and wood and fired to terracotta red, or the kiln is closed for a reduced grey finish.
Painting (where used)
Toys and decorative figures may be painted in bright colours after firing.
Technique Glossary
Hental kala
The Assamese name for the region's clay and terracotta craft.
Hatima Putul
The signature elephant-headed mother-and-child doll of Asharikandi.
Kumbhakar / Paul
The hereditary potter community of lower Assam and Bengal who make the ware.
Luting
Joining leather-hard clay parts with a slip of the same clay so they fuse during firing.
Slip
A thin liquid clay used as glue between parts or as a coloured coating on the surface.
Updraught kiln
A simple kiln in which heat rises through the stacked ware from a fire below.
Reduction firing
Closing the kiln to starve it of oxygen so the clay turns grey or black rather than red.
A Craft Through Time
Pre-modern
Fair and festival craft
Paul potters supply terracotta toys, ritual figures and vessels to markets across lower Assam and north Bengal.
Early–mid 20th century
A named village
Asharikandi becomes identified as the region's leading terracotta centre, with hundreds of families involved.
Late 20th century
National recognition
Master potter Sarala Bala Devi receives national honours, raising the village's profile.
Late 20th century
Cooperative and training centre
A cooperative society and a craft training centre organise production and pass on the skills.
2018
Geographical Indication
Asharikandi Terracotta and Pottery Craft is registered as a GI of Assam.
Present
A craft emblem
The Hatima appears in state tourism material, and the cluster supplies craft emporia and fairs nationwide.
Did You Know?
The Hatima Putul takes its name from 'hati', elephant, and 'ma', mother; the elephant-headed mother-and-child doll has become a near-official symbol of Assamese folk craft.
Every craft has a story. Every story begins with tradition.