Earthen lamps lose luster to modernity!

Team Udayavani, Nov 3, 2021, 11:36 AM IST

Karkala: Lamps have special significance in the festival of lights. But, the storm of modernity is blowing out the flames of earthen lamps, pushing the potters’ lives into the dark. The general lack of demand for baked clay lamps has made potter’s life difficult.

Potters source clay from distant places, knead and mold it into beautiful lamps, bake and bring them to the market for sale. It is really unfortunate that even after such labour, the customers aren’t ready to shell out more than Rs 10 to 15 for a dozen lamps. People have been lured by easily available and mass-produced candles and attractive porcelain lamps, lament the potters.

Potter families that sold lamps at a large scale, now struggle to even sell a thousand of them every year. Those who once made a living only through pottery, have to depend on other professions to fill their bellies.

In the past, Deepavali literally brought in a festival of light for the families of potters. The process of making earthen lamps began at least two months ahead of the festival. The finished lamps reached the market and customers brought 30-40 lamps each. All that is now history. Now only a handful buy earthen lamps. Deepavali has lost its charm in the life of potters.

The pace of modernity is so quick that even the porcelain lamps that overtook earthen lamps are now losing demand. LED lamps and lights have now made inroads in the market.

Pitiable life:

Today, only a few traditionally conservative customers buy earthen lamps. This cannot financially sustain the potters’ life and they are looking at other avenues of making money.

In 50 places in the taluk, pottery was the main profession, with many engaged in making lamps, pots, and other essential household items. Now the number of potters has dropped to 20.

The new generation is not coming forward to take up this profession. This has diminished the production capacity of earthenware. Production resumes only when there’s a custom order is received, said Annu-Vasathi Moolya couple from Kadari in Karkala.

“This time, We’ve produced only 600 baked clay lamps,” said the couple who have been engaged in the pottery profession for 45 years.