In the past the clay used was found in the immediate neighbourhood. At present it is purchased and transported from the Katana area at a cost of Rs. 7,000 per truck load. Clay from termite mounds, sand and water are added to the clay which is trampled into the right consistency. It is then thrown on a hand turned potter’s wheel (sakaporuwa) where the mouth and lip and the body of the pot apart from the bottom is formed. The pot is then removed from the wheel and dried till it is leather hard. The bottom is then beaten into shape with a round stone (thalana gala) held against the inside of the pot and a wooden mallet (thalana lalla). The surface of the pot is polished with a piece of broken ceramic ware. Decorations if used are incised with the piece of broken ceramic or an improvised wooden tool (iri kura). A slip is applied to some pots with red powder. The pots are then sun dried for several days, stacked onto a low brick built kiln with flues in front which are fired with coconut husks.
