Mirroring the making of 'Aranmula kannadi'


Out of soot and mud emerges the famous Aranmula mirror

 

As a little boy, Rajeev Manikandan vividly recalls watching the Aranmula kannadi (mirror) emerge bright and shining from his grandfather’s forge every day. Now 38, Manikandan is one of the few people who know the alchemy behind the hand-made alloy mirror, which, with its GI tag, has made the small town of Aranmula in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district famous.

Manikandan would watch wide-eyed as his grandfather made moulds from clay, forged an alloy and polished it for days until it had the right shine that gave the surface its distinctive mirror-like surface. Manikandan learnt the craft by watching and began working with his father when he was 18. Today, his is one of just five families in Aranmula that are keepers of the secret behind the metallic mirror. He owns Manikanda Handicrafts at an entrance to the Aranmula Parthasarathy temple, one of 24 such units owned by the five families.

Manikandan’s day begins early. After prayers at the temple, he enters his forge by 7 in the morning and works till 4 in the evening. Work is never easy — there is fire, soot and grime. As the demand for the mirror has grown, he has had to ramp up production.Read more

Source web page: The Hindu


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