Bankura Terracotta Horse Craft
The long-necked horse of Panchmura — a shrine offering that became a national craft emblem.
The village of Panchmura in Bankura district makes the tall, angular terracotta horse — upright pricked ears, an arched neck, a tubular body on four straight legs — that has become an emblem of Indian handicraft and the crest of the All India Handicrafts Board. The potters also make elephants, the Manasa chali (a shrine plaque for the snake goddess), Gauri-Shankar figures, oil lamps, wall panels and decorative animals, all fired to a warm burnt-sienna red.
Craft at a Glance
Origin
Bankura, West Bengal
Also Known As
Panchmura terracotta, Bankura ghora, Bengal terracotta horse
Craft Type
Wheel-and-mould terracotta sculpture
Practising Community
Kumbhakar (Pal / Rudra Pal) potter families of the Rarh region
Materials
Two local clays — a plastic black clay and a sandy red clay — blended for strength; rice husk, straw, wood and dung for the firing; slip for joining and finishing.
Known For
The stylised Bankura horse and elephant, and Manasa snake-goddess shrine plaques
Where It's Made
Panchmura village, and Rajagram, Sonamukhi and Hamirpur in Bankura district, West Bengal
Time to Create
One to two weeks per large figure, including slow drying and firing
GI Status
Bankura Panchmura Terracotta Craft is a registered GI of West Bengal
Process Steps
Blending the clay
Black plastic clay and sandy red clay are mixed and wedged to a body strong enough to hold a large, thin-walled hollow form.
Throwing the components
The cylindrical body and the tall neck are thrown on the wheel in sections sized to the finished figure.
Making the limbs and features
Legs, ears, muzzle, tail and decorative elements are formed separately by hand or in press moulds.
Assembling
The parts are joined with slurry while leather-hard, and the seams are blended, smoothed and reinforced from the inside.
Decorating
Applied clay pellets, stamped rosettes and incised lines are added, following the traditional treatment of mane, harness and face.
Slow drying
The assembled figure is dried gradually under cover for days so the joins and the thin walls do not crack.
Firing
The dried figure is fired in an open or clamp kiln with husk and wood; the atmosphere and clay produce the bright terracotta red.
Technique Glossary
Ghora-dhora
The Bengali term for the votive horse-and-elephant figures offered at folk shrines.
Manasa chali
A terracotta shrine plaque for the snake goddess Manasa, another Panchmura speciality.
Luting
Joining leather-hard clay parts with a slip of the same clay so they fuse in firing.
Clamp kiln
A temporary kiln built by stacking the ware with fuel and covering it with sherds and earth for a single firing.
Kumbhakar
The hereditary potter community of Bengal, also called Pal or Rudra Pal.
Rarh
The lateritic western Bengal region, of which Bankura is part, with a deep terracotta tradition seen also in its temples.
Grog blend
Mixing a coarse and a fine clay so a large figure has both plasticity for forming and strength for firing.
A Craft Through Time
Pre-modern
Shrine offerings
Terracotta horses and elephants are vowed and placed at village deity shrines across the Rarh region of Bengal.
Colonial era
Panchmura's reputation
The village's potters become known for the tallest and most refined figures, with a distinctive elongated horse.
1950s
National emblem
The Bankura horse is chosen as the symbol of the All India Handicrafts Board.
Late 20th century
Craft product and export
The horse and elephant become staples of craft emporia and interior decoration in India and abroad.
2018
Geographical Indication
Bankura Panchmura Terracotta Craft is registered as a GI of West Bengal.
Present
Emblem and livelihood
A cluster of families in and around Panchmura continues the craft, balancing ritual, decorative and souvenir demand.
Did You Know?
The Bankura horse was adopted as the crest of the All India Handicrafts Board, making it perhaps the most reproduced single craft object in the country.
Every craft has a story. Every story begins with tradition.