Hawkers start selling earthen pots for Pongal

The street shops selling earthen pots and pans on Venkatesa Agraharam road, near Saibaba temple, have started gearing up for Pongal.

 E. Thiyagarajan, P. Hemavathy and A. Muthukumar were busy painting the earthen pots on Jan 9 evening.

“We start work one week before the festival. Then only will be able to finish the work. Our regular customers have already made orders,” says Thiyagarajan.

 “This is our family business. Our grandfather was an earthen pot maker. He used to give us these painting works after school. Thiyagarajan is my younger brother. All of us children enjoyed the painting,” says Hemavathy.

“All the pots are painted with white colour first. Then we use other colours for drawing designs. The colours blue, yellow and red are a must because they look bright. And they are considered auspicious also,” she says.

 A. Muthukumar, an auto driver and a friend of Hemavathy has also joined them since he loves painting the pots.

“Even though families are not using firewood to cook nowadays, they prefer these pots to get a traditional vibe,” she says.

The pots here are nominally priced.

South Mada Street hawkers will also be seen selling these pots.