Floods may take shine off Aranmula mirror
The recent floods that ravaged Kerala threaten to take away the livelihoods of artisans who manufacture the state’s famed and Geographical Indication (GI)-labelled Aranmula ‘Kannadi’ or mirror.
Unlike traditional mirrors, which have a silver nitrate coating at the back, the Aranmula mirror is polished out of a rare combination of metal alloys, with only a few Vishwakarma families being familiar with the details of the technique used to produce it.
For generations, the mirror has been an integral part of decorations during weddings and other auspicious occasions in the state, garnering global attention as it does not have any visual gaps.
However, the craftsmen of Aranmula — a temple town located 116 kilometers from Thiruvananthapuram— who manufacture the mirror, said they stared at a bleak future as they lost their workshops, tools and half-finished products in the deluge that killed around 400 people and left a trail of destruction.
“There were finished and half-finished mirrors worth ₹10 lakh in my workshop alone. We also lost all equipment and work yard. We don’t need any freebies but give us loans to stand on our feet otherwise this beautiful craft will become history,” says Murukan R Achary, one of the artisans.
His 76-year-old father, Rajan Achary, was busy polishing a mirror retrieved from the sludge and echoed his son’s views. “I have been in the profession for more than five-decades. I never witnessed such a calamity. Our future is bleak now,” he said.
Aranmulla has 26 mirrormaking units and 22 of them were damaged in the floods, according to officials familiar with the matter.
‘We use a special kind of clay to make the mirror and our collections were washed away. Now we need to remove thick coat of sand and mud from puncha (wet fields) to find the right kind of clay,” said Rajeevan Achary, another craftsman, adding that two of his workers had already switched over to other professions.
After the floods, the state government had said it was committed to protecting the craft of manufacturing Aranmula mirror but craftsmen said they were yet to get any assistance. “Soon after floods the state government announced an initial relief of Rs 10,000 to the affected families but we are yet to get even this amount,” said Murukan.
However, speaking on the condition of anonymity, a senior official of the state handicrafts department said the government will soon start a survey to gauge the loss and provide assistance to the affected artistes accordingly.
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: