Household Ceramics Utensils: A Decaying Cultural Tradition of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pakistan
摘要
Pakistan has been blessed with immense cultural diversity. The historic sites of Gandhara and Indus Valley Civilizations are complemented by magnificent intangible cultural heritage comprising, practices, expressions, knowledge and skills, oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, and festivals. Each Province of Pakistan has its unique cultural traditions. The indigenous knowledge, traditions, and expressions that developed over centuries through the interaction of human beings with their environment and guided our forefathers against hunger, diseases, and natural disasters, are our cultural heritage. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) like other provinces is extremely rich in cultural heritage housing around 2,000 tangible heritage sites in addition to 30,000 relics of the Gandhara civilization and with many cultural traditions, practices, and festivals in the form of intangible cultural heritage. But with advancements in technology, many traditions of the province are in danger and moving toward their decline. The present research focuses on the use of household utensils made up of ceramics as a tradition for many centuries. This study aimed; to highlight important factors responsible for the replacement of old traditions with new ones and to understand the socioeconomic impact of new replacements on the community. For this purpose, the perceptions of students belonging to different cultures about ceramic household utensils were obtained using a self-developed questionnaire from the Hazara region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The study revealed that many ceramics utensils were replaced with new silver, plastic, and glass materials and the old ceramics tradition is almost in the decaying stage throughout the region.