INSPIRED! BRICK MAKING IN MALUR

About an hour away from Bengaluru, the highway curves to the right. On either sides are vegetable and ragi fields and eucalyptus plantations. It is not quite away from civilization, but scenic enough to tell us we are well out of the city.

And then they begin – tall reddish towers, dotting the landscape. Some have smoke spewing out of them; some don’t.

These are the chimneys of the iconic brick kilns of Malur taluk, in Kolar district, Karnataka. This right here is said to be the largest hub of downdraft kilns in the country! On closer look, one can see mounds and mounds of bricks, cooling around the kiln. On the other side are brick workers working at record speed, casting clay into moulds and turning them out to dry.

The Malur taluk region is traditionally known to be rich in good quality clay. However, bricks were not manufactured here till the 1970s. What we learned is that “there were very few tile factories here in the 1970s and these were run by people from the potters’ community. However, with an increase in demand for bricks, people from all communities, including farmers, opened factories.”

Today, there are over 300 factories in the area that have become a mainstay of the economy of the region. You can find migrants from as far away as Bihar and Chhattisgarh, and from other parts of south India, at work in the brick factories and the terracotta outlets that dot the roads.

Looking back at our work with Kattoos, this landscape was perhaps one of the many inspirational catalysts for our miniature terracotta bricks. The traditional knowhow of creating and handling terracotta has stood us in good stead, and going forward, we hope to contribute to the region’s economy in a miniature way.

Know more at:
http://sameeeksha.org/pdf/clusterprofile/Malur-brick-kilns-Karnataka.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJXPWr2mVVA&ab_channel=BackyardGardening