An examination of traditional pottery methods and practices in light of an exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. in 1987.

A collection of the small votive figures and utilitarian pots made by Jhithru

"We stood on a hillside surveying th landscape for just he "right spot." M. Palaniappan preferred the low, more level area near the base of the hill, while Jhithru Ram favored the more sloping crest. Three others of us stood by observing as they spoke animatedly in Hindi. The day, a steamy one in early June, marked the beginning of a research project that was to last some two months. It included two village potters from India who had come to the Smithsonian Institution as participants in the Aditi Exhibition, and three archaeologists with interests in ancient pottery. The project involved the study of the production techniques used by traditional Indian potters and their ability to adapt to new materials and to produce their ceramics in a new environment. Today, we were deleting the site for the kilns in which they eventually would fire their ceramics."