Craft of Kutch
Copper Bells
Bells tuned by hammer and ear, one note at a time
The story
The Lohar families of Nirona and Zura make bells the way their ancestors did for the herders of Sindh: scrap iron shaped by hand, coated in copper and brass, fired in a smoky kiln — and then tuned. The maker taps, listens, bends and taps again until the bell sings the note he wants. Herders once ordered bells in different pitches to tell their animals apart across a dark grassland.
How it is made
- Shaping
Sheet iron is cut, curved and locked into a bell body without any welding.
- Coating
The bell is packed in a paste of copper, brass and borax inside a clay shell.
- Firing
In the kiln the coating fuses into a warm golden skin over the iron.
- Tuning
The wooden tongue is fitted and the rim is hammered, note by note, until the pitch is true.
Where to see & buy
- — Nirona — Lohar workshops
- — Zura village
- — Khamir craft centre, Kukma
