{
  "type": "article",
  "title": "As Dehradun's traditional potters quit under pressure, one man is teaching the craft to a new generation",
  "summary": "Traditional potter families at Dehradun's Kumhar Mandi are leaving the trade due to a shortage of clay and poor earnings, even as city residents pay thousands of rupees to learn pottery, and artists like Kamaldeep Singh work to keep the craft alive.",
  "content": "In Dehradun's centuries-old Kumhar Mandi, two very different stories are unfolding side by side. Children from families who have shaped clay for generations are walking away from the family trade, driven out by a shortage of clay, missing basic facilities and poor earnings, while well-off residents and young professionals in the same city are paying thousands of rupees to learn pottery as a hobby. That contrast is now raising a real question about the future of this old craft in Uttarakhand's capital.\n\nA shortage of clay is breaking the trade\nFor the traditional potters who live and work in Kumhar Mandi, the biggest problem is simply not getting enough good clay. That shortage, combined with a lack of basic facilities and earnings that don't match the effort involved, has pushed many families to give up their ancestral occupation and look for other work. As a result, children in several potter households have stopped working the wheel and moved into different jobs in the city, and the craft's traditional stronghold is steadily losing ground.\n\nFor the city's elite, pottery has become a hobby and a stress buster\nAt the very moment traditional potters are watching their children drift away from the trade, pottery has become a new fashion among the city's affluent residents and young people. It is no longer seen only as an old occupation but as a fine art and a way to relieve stress. That is why people are paying course fees running into thousands of rupees to learn pottery professionally, even as the families who have practised the craft for generations struggle to hold on to it.\n\nA childhood spent watching his uncle work the wheel\nAmid this shift, artists like Kamaldeep Singh are trying to keep the craft alive. Kamaldeep is not a potter by profession himself, but his uncle used to live in Kumhar Mandi, and he has been drawn to clay since childhood. Watching pots, vessels and earthen lamps take shape on the spinning wheel fascinated him, and he loved both watching the process and trying his own hand at it. To carry his uncle's skill forward and pursue his own interest, he took up a course in fine arts and pottery after finishing school.\n\nKamaldeep Singh says the potters of the mandi are troubled by the shortage of clay, and that children in many potter families have given up this legacy, but he could not watch the craft die out, which is why he decided to learn it professionally and pass it on.\n\nTeaching visually impaired children to shape clay by touch\nKamaldeep Singh also teaches pottery at NIPVD to children who cannot see. These children can only feel the clay by touching it, yet they are just as keen to shape vessels and toys out of soft clay as any other child. Kamaldeep believes clay can be learned through touch as much as through sight, and he works patiently to connect these children with the wheel and the material.\n\nTrying to keep children connected to clay in the mobile phone era\nKamaldeep Singh also teaches at other schools across Dehradun, with the aim of keeping children interested in earthen pots and idols the way earlier generations were, even in an age dominated by mobile phones and screens. The situation at Kumhar Mandi shows that there is still real demand for and appreciation of this craft; what traditional artisans need is proper clay, resources, a platform and recognition, so that this ancestral skill does not die out with the coming generations.\n\nWhat this means for you\nThis story is rooted in Dehradun's Kumhar Mandi and the traditional potter families there, but the question of saving this craft and the skills that go with it matters well beyond one city.\n\n• Across India: Traditional potter families across the country face similar struggles, even as more urban residents take up pottery as a fine art and a stress-relieving hobby. If you are interested in learning pottery, professional courses now running in cities are one way to try it.\n• In Dehradun: Artisan families at Kumhar Mandi need a steady supply of clay, basic facilities and fair earnings. Support from local authorities and residents, along with better access to clay and a platform to sell their work, could give the next generation a reason to stay in the trade.\n• For visually impaired children: Pottery training offered through institutions like NIPVD shows that visually impaired children can engage with a craft that is learned by touch. Parents and schools can look into similar courses to connect children with this kind of hands-on, creative training.\n• For children and parents: Pottery sessions being run in schools give children a chance to connect with clay and traditional craft even in an age dominated by mobile phones and screens. Parents who want to encourage creativity in their children can consider enrolling them in such workshops.\n\nWhy this happened\nSeveral concrete factors explain why artisan families at Dehradun's Kumhar Mandi are moving away from their ancestral trade, and all of them are tied directly to their livelihood.\n\n• Shortage of clay: The good quality clay needed to make pots and vessels is becoming harder to get, which directly affects potters' work.\n• Lack of basic facilities: The mandi does not have all the facilities artisans need to work, adding to their difficulties.\n• Earnings that don't match the effort: The income from making earthen pots no longer covers the labour involved or supports a family, pushing the younger generation toward other jobs.\n• Shifting demand: At the same time, pottery is being taken up in the city as a fine art and stress reliever, creating a clear divide between traditional potters and new hobbyist learners.\n\nQuestions & Answers\n\n1. What is the main problem at Dehradun's Kumhar Mandi?\nTraditional potter families are leaving their ancestral trade because of a shortage of clay, a lack of basic facilities and poor earnings.\n\n2. Who is Kamaldeep Singh?\nHe is not a potter by profession, but his uncle used to live in Kumhar Mandi and he has been drawn to clay since childhood, which led him to take a course in fine arts and pottery after finishing school.\n\n3. Which children is Kamaldeep Singh teaching pottery to?\nHe teaches pottery to visually impaired children at NIPVD as well as to children at other schools in the city.\n\n4. What new trend is emerging in the city around pottery?\nAffluent residents and young people are now paying thousands of rupees for professional pottery courses, treating it as a fine art and a stress buster.\n\n5. How do visually impaired children learn the craft of clay?\nSince they cannot see, they learn to shape vessels and toys by touching and feeling the clay.\n\n6. Why is Kamaldeep Singh teaching pottery in schools?\nSo that children keep an interest in earthen pots and idols the way earlier generations did, even in the age of mobile phones.\n\nInspiration & Lessons\nKamaldeep Singh's story shows that even someone outside the trade can help save an old craft, simply by deciding not to let it disappear.\n\n• Turned a childhood interest into a real skill: Instead of staying just a spectator, he formalised his fascination with the potter's wheel by taking a course in fine arts and pottery after finishing school.\n• Took responsibility for preserving the craft: Rather than simply lamenting that potters' children were leaving the trade, he chose to learn it professionally himself and carry it forward.\n• Made the craft accessible to everyone: He extended pottery training beyond hobbyists to visually impaired children at NIPVD, who can only experience clay through touch.\n• Works to engage the next generation: By teaching in different schools, he tries to pull children away from screens and reconnect them with clay and the wheel, so the craft has a chance to reach the next generation.",
  "url": "https://trendkia.com/en/uttarakhand/dehradun-men-kumharon-ka-pushtaini-hunara-dama-tora-raha-kamaldeep-singh-bachchon-ko-sikha-rahe-mitti-ki-kala-29590",
  "category": "Uttarakhand",
  "publishedAt": "2026-09-08",
  "tags": [
    "Kumhar Mandi",
    "Dehradun",
    "Pottery Course",
    "Clay Art",
    "Kamaldeep Singh",
    "Uttarakhand",
    "NIPVD",
    "Visually Impaired Children"
  ],
  "language": "en",
  "site": "TrendKia"
}