Fieldnotes

Temple Potters of Puri I - XI

Potter Brundaban Bisoi trains a young boy from another household in the community. Tikarapada, 1980.
Potter Brundaban Bisoi trains a young boy from another household in the community. Tikarapada, 1980.

These eleven notebooks, maintained by Louise Cort, contain all the records of our joint fieldwork on the Kumbhara Bishoi potter servants of the Jagannath Temple, Puri. Volume I opens with sketches of earthenware pots for sale in Gariahat Market, Calcutta, and other jottings made soon after Louise’s arrival in India, before her first meeting with Purna Chandra Mishra in Puri, 28 October 1979. Thereafter, the predominant records are notes from visits to the potters’ villages (KP = Kumbharapada; TP = Tikarapada; GP = Gopalpur) interspersed with notes from discussions with Purna Chandra Mishra (PCM) and interviews with individual potters.

To the digitised fieldnotes Temple Potters of Puri I-XI.

Cooking

Sureswari Mishra serves mahaprasada to her husband Purna Chandra Mishra, their son Bapi, and her sister Kuni, in the courtyard of their home. Puri, 1980.
Sureswari Mishra serves mahaprasada to her husband Purna Chandra Mishra, their son Bapi, and her sister Kuni, in the courtyard of their home. Puri, 1980.

This notebook was started to record information about food prepared in the Jagannath Temple. It also includes food preparations learned from Purna Chandra Mishra (pp. 25, 29-33, 35-39), his wife Sureswari (1-7, 9) and her younger sister Kuni (8, 41-42). Page 3, left, records Purna’s instructions for a classic vegetable stew, prepared when he visited Washington DC in October, 1984, following our research trip to Heidelberg. Purna also provided information on medicinal uses of food (10, 16-18, 23-24, 27-28, 40, 43). Louise gathered Bengali recipes from Nivedita Bose during visits to her home in Santiniketan (11-15, 20, 44). Bengal-born Ganesh, Louise’s cook while she lived in Puri, gave the recipe for lentil and vegetable stew (dalma) (19). The notebook served as a scrapbook for occasional newspaper clippings about food (21-22). 

Find the digitised fieldnotes here.

Ceramics I - II

Brahmin priest guides potter Hadibandhu Bishoi in ritual inside workshop, first day of Kurala Panchami. Tikarapada, 1980.
Brahmin priest guides potter Hadibandhu Bishoi in ritual inside workshop, first day of Kurala Panchami. Tikarapada, 1980.

While continuing fieldwork on the potters in Puri, Louise, and Purna Chandra Mishra made several extended trips to other areas of Orissa to see production by local potters and gain perspective on the distinctive aspects of the Puri potters’ community. In addition, Louise traveled to Kashmir and Ladakh, to Rajasthan and Gujarat, and to Southern India to explore potters’ activities in those regions.

To the digitised fieldnotes Ceramics I-II.

Crafts I - II

A kiln inside a potter’s workshop, cleaned and decorated for the celebration of Kurala Panchami. Tikarapada, 1980.
A kiln inside a potter’s workshop, cleaned and decorated for the celebration of Kurala Panchami. Tikarapada, 1980.

These two notebooks gather more miscellaneous observations of other kinds of craft production, including metalworking.

To the digitised fieldnotes Crafts I-II.

Two senior women from potter households carry pots to the temple. Tikarapada, 1980.
Two senior women from potter households carry pots to the temple. Tikarapada, 1980.

Textiles I - II

Textiles were a strong secondary interest of research, leading to study trips to textile production centers in Orissa and to observations of textile production elsewhere in India during extended travels.

To the digitised fieldnotes Textiles I-II.