Adilabad ‘Ranjans’ now available in city

Hyderabad: Scorching heat of summer has invited pottery from Adilabad to Hyderabad. Adilabadi Ranjan are now available in the city. ‘Ranjan’ is a handmade clay vessel with a wide golden mouth solely crafted by the potters of Adilabad.

Ranjan is different from a normal earthen pot because it can make the water substantially cooler and it is made without the use of traditional potter’s wheel. In Adilabad, Ranjan potters use the old school technique of laying lumps of clay layer by layer to give it a perfect shape of pot. Although it’s not very perfect in symmetry, it can make cooler water when compared to the classical earthen pot.

Abdul Gaffar, a pot vendor from Tolichowki said, “These pots are much thicker in diameter and porous. It allows the water to diffuse inside the porous and make the pot sweat from the outer side resulting in cooler water inside. The Ranjan basically maintains the moisture outside to keep the water at cooler water inside”.

Gaffar’s father Abdul Kaleem joined the conversation and expressed, “It is all because of the clay from Adilabad which is mixed with horse dung and charcoal to form a perfect consistency. It is then crafted by the hands of potter, layer upon layer. The whole process takes about 3 to 4 days to form a ‘Ranjan’ which is then heated and painted into a perfect pot”.

Junaid, another pot vendor said, “The price of each pot here is between Rs 250 and 300. Potters start making these pots from the month of December until March and then these pots are sold and exported to various districts of Telangana and Maharashtra.

We have imported Ranjan to Hyderabad this year and these pots are sold only at Mohammadi Lines in Tolichowki and near Salar Junj Museum and Nayapul in Hyderabad. A visitor to the store Qayoom said “In spite of having a refrigerator at home, we still prefer water from Ranjan because of the mild fragrance of sand and perfect cooling temperatures”.

BY Mayank Tiwari