Example · Hearth and Clay: Handmade Pottery near Kandy

About this activity

Malini’s family has made clay pots by hand for three generations, in a village about 25 minutes from Kandy town. In the open workshop beside her home there are no machines: only river clay, a wheel turned by hand, wooden paddles and a wood-fired kiln. In this class you make your own pieces with her.

What you will do

• Your guide brings you to Malini’s home and workshop, where the shelves are full of drying pots, oil lamps and small clay figures.
• Knead the river clay with your hands and feet, the way the family has always done it.
• Shape a small pot and a little oil lamp (pahana) on the hand-turned wheel while Malini guides your hands. Most first pots fall in at least once, and everyone laughs.
• Smooth and decorate your pieces with simple tools, leaves and patterns pressed into the clay.
• See the wood-fired kiln and the finished pots, and look around the small family shop of handmade lamps, pots and souvenirs.
• Sit with the family on the veranda for tea and a small snack.

Good to know

The class takes about four hours, from 9:00 AM to about 1:00 PM, and most of it is hands-on. Fresh clay needs several days to dry and be fired, so you take home a finished piece made in the family workshop. Wear clothes you do not mind getting a little clay on; aprons are ready for you.

Meeting point: your guide brings you from Kandy town and takes you on afterwards. The exact place is shared after booking.

Accessibility: the workshop is on the ground floor under a roof, with an earth floor and one low step. There is always a stool if you prefer to work sitting down.

About your host

Malini learned the wheel from her father as a girl and now runs the workshop with her son. She started inviting travellers when she saw how much they enjoyed watching, and she says the best moment is when a guest’s first pot finally stands up straight.