Northern potters race to light up Deepaboli — Clay, fire and hope

With Deepaboli, the festival of lights, arriving tomorrow, the potter villages of the Rangpur region are bustling with activity. For the past month, more than 3,000 potter families across Lalmonirhat, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Nilphamari and Kurigram have been working tirelessly to meet the seasonal demand.

Men, women and children are shaping, drying and firing thousands of earthen lamps, locally called ‘diya’, hoping the festival will bring their families some much-needed income.