Women from several Muslim families have been making clay stoves for the Hindu festival for decades, with their products used to prepare Chhath offerings
PATNA — Muslim women in Bihar’s capital city are preparing traditional clay stoves for Chhath Puja, continuing a family occupation that has connected them with the Hindu festival for several decades.
On Veerchand Patel Path, women from Muslim families are busy shaping clay stoves that will be used by devotees to prepare offerings for the festival. Although they do not observe the fast themselves, their work forms part of the preparations for Chhath, in which people from different communities contribute in their own ways.
Shakeela Khatoon has been making clay stoves for Chhath for the past 30 years. This year, she has prepared 80 stoves, with other women in her family, including her daughter-in-law, helping her with the work.
She said making a single stove takes at least an hour. The process begins with preparing the clay, followed by shaping the base and building the stove to the required height. A layer of kuttī is then applied to strengthen it.
Shakeela sources the required gori mitti (light-coloured clay) from Diadihar. She said the rainfall this year made it difficult to collect the needed clay.
The work is seasonal, as there is little demand for these stoves during the rest of the year. The women in the family sell household utensils door to door to earn a living outside the Chhath season.
A stove costs around Rs 200. Several women in the family work together to maintain the traditional occupation.
Another woman, Shabbo Khatoon, has also been making clay stoves for Chhath every year. This time, she and her mother-in-law have prepared around 200 stoves.
Her mother-in-law has been involved in the work for 15 to 20 years, while Shabbo has been doing it for about four years.
She said they can make around 10 to 15 stoves in two days. Drying them also takes time and depends on the weather. Under strong sunlight, the stoves dry within two to three days, but when the sky is sunless, the process can take up to five days.
Rainfall this year damaged around 60 of the stoves she had made.
Shabbo said it was difficult to increase prices as more households now use gas stoves for cooking. Some customers ask for a clay stove for Rs 100, while others are willing to pay between Rs 120 and Rs 130.
Muskaan Joins the Family Occupation
For Muskaan, this year’s Chhath preparations have brought a new experience. Her family has been making clay stoves for the festival for around 20 to 25 years, with her mother, grandmother and other women relatives carrying on the work.
This year, Muskaan decided to join them for the first time. She said that after watching the women in her family work hard, she felt she should also contribute. She has already made around 50 to 60 stoves.
Muskaan also said her family follows certain food restrictions while making the stoves for Chhath. Nobody in the household eats garlic or onion during this period.
The work of these women reflects a longstanding local practice in which people who do not observe a religious festival themselves still contribute to its preparations through their traditional occupations. For the women of these families, making clay stoves for Chhath has remained an important part of their livelihood and family tradition.
