DHUNADANI

This elegant earthen pot, with delicate design and curvy motifs is called the Dhunadani, a vessel to burn resin, an integral part of Assamese as well as Bengali culture. Few years back, it was impossible to imagine an evening in the Assamese households without the smoky fragrance of the Dhuna or the resin. In the same way, the Durga Puja celebration, whether in Assam or Bengal is incomplete without the decorated Dhunadani and the fragrance of the burnt resin in it.

Dhuna or the resin is an organic extract, which is believed to have medicinal value, as the fragrant smoke is used extensively to get rid of the mosquito.The Dhunadani or the vessel displayed in the picture is used to place and also to move around the hot and burning resin around the houses. Seeing its size, it is hard to believe how a tradition is associated with this earthen pot or how a kind of village economy has once developed surrounding it. There are villages spread all over Assam and some parts of the country which expertise in the art of making clay Dhunadani out of soft reddish clay, extracted from riversides. But unfortunately with the advent of modern technologies like the All out or the Mortien, this vibrant practice is fading day by day.