The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India - Volume IV | Page 4

the
neighbourhood where he can get it free of cost. Red and black clay are
employed, the former being obtained near the base of hills or on
high-lying land, probably of the laterite formation, and the latter in the
beds of tanks or streams. When the clay is thoroughly kneaded and
ready for use a lump of it is placed on the centre of the wheel. The
potter seats himself in front of the wheel and fixes his stick or chakrait
into the slanting hole in its upper surface. With this stick the wheel is
made to revolve very rapidly, and sufficient impetus is given to it to
keep it in motion for several minutes. The potter then lays aside the
stick and with his hands moulds the lump of clay into the shape
required, stopping every now and then to give the wheel a fresh spin as
it loses its momentum. When satisfied with the shape of his vessel he
separates it from the lump with a piece of string, and places it on a bed
of ashes to prevent it sticking to the ground. The wheel is either a
circular disc cut out of a single piece of stone about a yard in diameter,
or an ordinary wooden wheel with spokes forming two diameters at
right angles. The rim is then thickened with the addition of a coating of
mud strengthened with fibre. [6] The articles made by the potter are
ordinary circular vessels or gharas used for storing and collecting water,
larger ones for keeping grain, flour and vegetables, and surahis or
amphoras for drinking-water. In the manufacture of these last salt and
saltpetre are mixed with the clay to make them more porous and so
increase their cooling capacity. A very useful thing is the small saucer
which serves as a lamp, being filled with oil on which a lighted wick is
floated. These saucers resemble those found in the excavations of
Roman remains. Earthen vessels are more commonly used, both for
cooking and eating purposes among the people of northern India, and
especially by Muhammadans, than among the Marathas, and, as already
noticed, the Kumhar caste musters strong in the north of the Province.
An earthen vessel is polluted if any one of another caste takes food or
drink from it and is at once discarded. On the occasion of a death all the
vessels in the house are thrown away and a new set obtained, and the
same measure is adopted at the Holi festival and on the occasion of an

eclipse, and at various other ceremonial purifications, such as that
entailed if a member of the household has had maggots in a wound. On
this account cheapness is an indispensable quality in pottery, and there
is no opening for the Kumhar to improve his art. Another product of the
Kumhar's industry is the chilam or pipe-bowl. This has the usual
opening for inhaling the smoke but no stem, an impromptu stem being
made by the hands and the smoke inhaled through it. As the chilam is
not touched by the mouth, Hindus of all except the impure castes can
smoke it together, passing it round, and Hindus can also smoke it with
Muhammadans.
It is a local belief that, if an earthen pot is filled with salt and plastered
over, the rains will stop until it is opened. This device is adopted when
the fall is excessive, but, on the other hand, if there is drought, the
people sometimes think that the potter has used it to keep off the rain,
because he cannot pursue his calling when the clay is very wet. And on
occasions of a long break in the rains, they have been known to attack
his shop and break all his vessels under the influence of this belief. The
potter is sometimes known as Prajapati or the 'The Creator,' in
accordance with the favourite comparison made by ancient writers of
the moulding of his pots with the creation of human beings, the justice
of which will be recognised by any one who watches the masses of
mud on a whirling wheel growing into shapely vessels in the potter's
creating hands.

6. Breeding pigs for sacrifices
Certain Kumhars as well as the Dhimars make the breeding of pigs a
means of subsistence, and they sell these pigs for sacrifices at prices
varying from eight annas (8d.) to a rupee. The pigs are sacrificed by the
Gonds to their god Bura Deo and by Hindus to the deity Bhainsasur, or
the buffalo demon, for the protection of the crops. Bhainsasur is
represented by a stone in the fields, and when crops are beaten down at
night by the wind it is supposed that Bhainsasur has passed over them
and trampled them