Kalbhairavnath Jaggery Production

You can find us right behind the Tiranga Hotel on Karkhana Road. It's a busy spot because of the hotel and all the traffic heading toward the factory area. Making jaggery is hard work, and it gets very hot near the boiling pits where we work. We spend our days processing the juice and watching it thicken into the right consistency. It’s a very traditional way of doing things that hasn't changed much over the years. The steam fills up the whole workspace and you can smell the sweetness from far down the road. We don't have a lot of big machines; it's mostly us doing the work by hand. The pots need constant cleaning, and the fire needs to be kept at a steady temperature. We sell the blocks once they've cooled down and hardened properly. People driving down Karkhana Road often stop by because they see the smoke or smell the cooking. It gets pretty crowded in the yard when the trucks bring the fresh cane from the fields. We try to keep things moving along, but sometimes there’s a wait. The ground is usually a bit sticky, but that’s just part of the job. We aren't a big corporation, just a local production unit with a few workers. We have a few guys who have been with us for years. They know exactly when the jaggery is ready just by looking at the color. We don't use any fancy timers or equipment. It’s just about knowing the craft and getting the blocks out to the customers.