Kashmir's 500-Year-Old Firepot Keeps Families Warm at -20°C

When winter grips Kashmir and electricity fails, 48-year-old Sayida doesn't worry. Tucked beneath her woolen cloak sits a kangri, the traditional earthen firepot that has kept her family warm for nearly 30 years.

The kangri is more than just a heater. Sayida fills hers with warmed turnips and oil, which she applies to her children's frostbitten hands and feet during harsh cold snaps.

She remembers the day it saved her life. At 11, a rabid dog chased her through the neighborhood, and she threw her kangri at it to escape. "That moment saved me," she recalls.

Even the ash gets reused. After the embers die, Sayida collects every bit and mixes it into her kitchen garden, enriching the soil for better vegetable growth.

But this simple firepot requires extraordinary effort to create. In Ganderbal's willow groves, 57-year-old Manzoor Ahmad cuts, boils, and strips willow branches to weave the kangri's outer basket. "It takes a lot of labor and a lot of patience," he says.

The work is disappearing. Younger people avoid it because their clothes get dirty and plastic alternatives cost less. "We are not making good money from this," Manzoor admits, though he believes a government ban on plastic could revive the craft.

Fifty miles away in Pakherpora village, potter Ghulam Qadri Kumar shapes the kangri's clay core. The 52-year-old never attended school but learned the craft from his family. For decades, he worked a manual potter's wheel powered by hand before switching to an electric one two years ago.

During the intense cold wave that struck Kashmir in late December 2025, when temperatures hit minus 20 degrees Celsius and power cuts lasted for hours, the kangri proved its worth again. Modern heaters went silent, but the firepot kept burning.

The Ripple Effect

The kangri connects three generations of craftspeople to thousands of families across Kashmir. Manzoor's willow work travels to Srinagar, Budgam, and Baramulla, and even reaches Delhi markets as decorative items. Ghulam's clay pots find their way into homes where grandmothers teach grandchildren the careful handling required to avoid burns. Together, they sustain a tradition that turns local materials into winter survival tools.

This ancient firepot reminds us that the simplest solutions often prove the most resilient.