KUALA SELANGOR: The Ponggal festival that is celebrated every year by the Tamil community in this country is certainly not complete without the ritual of boiling rice in milk in a clay pot until it overflows to signify abundance for Hindus.
For entrepreneur K. Mahavisnoo, 39, the Rangoli-pattern clay pots produced by his family’s business legacy, Krishnan Pottery, for the past 65 years are highly sought after by the community celebrating the harvest festival.
Mahavisnoo said that for the celebration on Monday (in Thai month of Tamil calendar), he and his 10 workers have worked hard to produce about 45,000 clay pots since last May.
“That is our routine every year, we will prepare the pots from May to January to meet demand in the local and Singapore markets,” he told Bernama.
He said in addition to manufacturing pots for the Ponggal festival and other clay-based religious utensils, his company also produces unglazed pots for everyday cooking that attract buyers among the Malays and Chinese.
However, Mahavisnoo, the third generation to inherit the business, said he is now thinking about the future of his business due to a lack of the main ingredient for his product, which is precious clay.
He said the pots are produced using special clay obtained from a soil and sand production company in Bestari Jaya, his only source of supply now.
“Previously, I got my clay supplies in Puchong and Sri Petaling, but now I only depend on entrepreneurs in Bestari Jaya,” he said, adding that there are currently four entrepreneurs in Selangor making the pots.
He estimates that the current supply of clay in Selangor would only last for another five to seven years and is now actively exploring new sources including in Perak.
He said sourcing the clay from outside the state would increase the production cost.
“Now we sell to wholesalers at around RM8 to RM9 per pot while the price of our clay pots in the retail market is RM12 to RM13, depending on the size,” he said.
He also plans to hold a special workshop to attract tourists to his company’s factory to learn the art of traditional pottery.
“Currently, there are many tourists who are interested in coming here. So I want to make Kuala Selangor a tourist attraction for them to see and experience the traditional art of making clay pots by the Indian community,” he said. -Bernama
