Preserving traditional art: Mumbai's artisans prepare for Diwali festival

Diwali celebrated across India is just a week away but the streets of Mumbai are already aglow with colourful decorations lights lanterns crackers and traditional lamps diyasThis coming weekend the Mumbai markets will see a massive crowd of people shopping for the festival While the Dadar and Crawford markets are famous for buying decorative items and flowers for the festival a few bylanes in Mumbai have their own specialty One of them is Dharavirsquos KumbharwadaThe Kumbhar pottery community located in the bylanes of Dharavi works 365 days a year to make various pottery items and sell their products at wholesale prices across India But just a month before Diwali the pottersrsquo primary focus is on making a variety of lamps in different shapes and sizes as per the trend in the marketWhile the very basic mud diya is sold at Rs 10 in pairs the price ranges from Rs 10 to Rs 200 depending on the shape size and artwork used for making the diya Visiting the bylanes in Dharavi one can see the potters making traditional Diwali lamps on the power wheel painting them or packing them after giving them the final touchesSpeaking about the lamp business 74yearold Bhanuben Solanki who puts up a stall on the footpath of Dharavi to sell the lamps said ldquoMany wholesalers come to preorder and buy the lamps in larger quantities Most of the wholesalers are from outside Maharashtra especially from GujaratrdquoJust a week before Diwali the footpath near Matungarsquos Shoba hotel also called the famous lsquoKandil Galli of Mumbai transforms into a colourful street with lanterns all across the footpath Most lanterns are made at Matungarsquos Kandil Galli a tiny bylane leading off the street Every household on the street is involved in either commercial or political lanternmakingJagjit Singh a 59yearold resident of Kandil Galli has been making lanterns for political parties for many years According to him he has been making lanterns during the Diwali festival since he was a teenager Speaking about how the Kandil Galli moulds the art of lantern making into business Singh said ldquoFor many decades almost all the families in this bylane have been into making lanterns and selling them during the festival season Today there is a new generation that goes to jobs in the private and government sectors but also focuses on making lanterns during the festival just to preserve the traditional culture of the bylanerdquoShifting his focus from commercial smallscale lantern making to only making political party lanterns Singh has seen new trends and demands in the market Expressing how the lanterns of political parties have changed from hand painted lanterns to printed ones Singh added ldquoEarlier the political parties purchased bigsized handmade cloth lanterns to install on streets and colonies We showed our calligraphy creativity in those lanterns by hand painting them But now everything is going digital The new trend in political partiesrsquo lanterns is printing photos and content on flex and shaping them in lantern formrdquoThe political partiesrsquo lanterns made in Kandil Galli are not restricted only to demands in Mumbai but across Maharashtra Singh makes at least 30 to 40 bigsize political partiesrsquo lanterns which are transported outside MumbaiAnother resident of Kandil Galli Nandini Vaidya started getting the hang of the lanternmaking art after seeing her inlaws After her marriage she started helping her husband and inlaws make the lanterns ldquoIt is only after my marriage that I learned the art of lanternmaking After the Dussehra festival our whole family starts preparation Depending on the preorders and the demand we make over 2000 lanterns every yearrdquoBesides the political and fancy lanterns in the market there has been a trend of making traditional lanterns out of paper and old saree clothes especially Paithani sareesOne of the residents of Lalbaug specialising in crafting traditional lanterns from Paithani sarees has been engaged in this business for six years The venture known as HarshAbhi Creations was initiated by a husbandwife duoDr Abhishek Satam a zoologist has been crafting homemade traditional lanterns alongside his partner He fondly recalls learning the art of lanternmaking in his childhood with his father being his first teacher Over time he expanded his lanternmaking hobby to cater to the specific needs of others After getting married he and his wife joined forces to transform their creative hobby into a smallscale commercial businessDespite both of them being engaged in professional careers they prioritise dedicating time to creating traditional lanterns before Diwali This practice nurtures their artistic creativityDr Harshada Koli Satam a college professor shared In our initial year we crafted lanterns using Zari sarees Subsequently we shifted our focus to making lanterns predominantly from Paithani sarees This idea received much admiration and attracted numerous buyers Every year we accept around 2030 preorders for these handcrafted lanterns Due to the intricate work involved we deliberately limit the number of orders we takeIn their commitment to preserving tradition several Marathi celebrities have chosen to purchase lanterns from this talented duo Notably they recently sent their first lantern to the USA In the past they had the honour of sending a lantern to the renowned Indian sportsman Sachin Tendulkar