Potter's Square

The center of Bhaktapur's ceramic industry. I heard about it from my guidebook and wanted to go so when I got off work early one afternoon I set out to find it. Turns out if was only about a 3 minute walk from the guesthouse. Sweet! I wandered around the square and saw potters hard at work, talked with students learning how to paint mandalas, and met a really nice young man, you'll see him in pictures below. He asked the questions I always get, "Where are you from and what are you doing here?" Turns out he is a major dog-lover and we spent the next couple hours together chatting and he showed me his shop, told me his story, and then gave me a quick pottery lesson. It was such a cool experience to have that connection with a person and to be able to have made pottery in Potter's Square. I'll just put a nice big check next to that on my bucket list.

Freshly made pottery drying in the hot sun

This picture has some interesting components to it. First, you'll see large wooden beams supporting this building. Bhaktapur was hit quite hard by last year's earthquake and numerous buildings were destroyed. Others that were damaged are supported by beams like this. Second, there are large straw mounds. These act as storehouses for building fires. You just walk around the mound pulling out straw and you're ready to build a fire to cook dinner.

Adding slits to freshly made pots. These are similar in concept to piggy banks.

Master at work

Pots, pots, and more pots

I found a school teaching the art of painting mandalas.

This little man was hanging outside the school and was quite interested in me. I took his picture and then showed it to him. Isn't he just adorable?

Students at work

Made with all-natural pigments

A completed mandala, made by a master 

Earthquake damage

Shop

Pots...

More pots

Here's my awesome new friend I mentioned earlier. This is his shop behind us. He creates and sells and sleeps in this building. He used to live in the houses in the picture below, just to the right of his shop, but after the earthquake it was no longer safe to live there. He said the floors gave out and that the whole thing is unstable. He gave me a first hand account of that day and, wow, I was moved. The resiliency of these people is amazing. It's very obvious however, that tourism is not what it used to be. I heard this reiterated many times by the citizens and shop keepers throughout my stay in Bhaktapur. I saw maybe 3 or 4 other foreigners during my 3 day stay in the city. I hit the major landmarks, there should have definitely been more tourists. Tourism is how many of these people make a living. Consider the hardships they face of trying to rebuild after the earthquake when there is no money being made. It has been a year since the earthquake and things are still not back to how they used to be for many of these people. It's heartbreaking. 

After getting to know each other, he gave me a quick lesson on the wheel. I was terrible at it. He was so patient and we just laughed it off. 

"I don't know what I am doing...help me."

Messy, but fun!

Some of the vessels I made. By "made" I mean I attempted to form them and then he came in and turned my mess into something beautiful. He was very talented. In the video below you can see him at work. In case you can't understand what we are saying, I ask him how long he has been crafting pottery and he responds that he started when he was 9 years old and has been doing it for over 10 years now. He comes from a long line of potters, both his father and his grandfather also made a living by the craft. I spent a fair chunk of cash in his shop. If you get a souvenir made of clay, it came from here.