It’s as though a village fair has descended upon the heart of the city. ‘Clang, clang’ goes the clapping doll atop the pole of the jow mittai seller; ‘Tring, tring,’ rings the bell on the mini-carousel every time it finishes one round; ‘ Thengaaaaiburfi ....!’ sings an old man peddling a pushcart filled with the silvery sweet. The Panguni Festival at the Mylapore Kapaleeswarar Temple gives the locality a reason to dress up in its finery.
The four streets around the temple tank are where all the action takes place. We elbow our way into the wave of humanity with a mission: to take home a memorabilia. Does that ceramic pickle jar make the cut? We swim through the crowd across the street where vendors have spread out ceramic cups, plates, and dolls for a closer look.
But then, somewhere along the way, we get lost — the milky white cubes of seempal , or colostrum, call out to us. The jar can wait. We dip into the steamed dessert — it’s a little too sweet, but delicious. Priced at ₹20 a cup, seempal is sold in various forms at the festival: in steel tumblers, in aluminium foil containers, or as gigantic cakes that are cut as per requirement.
Our search resumes. What about glass bangles? The streets are full of them. Heaped as colourful hillocks, the bangles are tempting even to someone who has no intention of wearing them. Just the perfect keepsake. As we narrow down on the seller who has the most glittery of the lot, a traffic policewoman in a khaki sari calls out to a biker, “That’s a no entry road.” The rider grudgingly obeys and does a U-turn.
The four roads around the temple can be plied only one way; the reason is better traffic regulation, of course. And traffic is chaotic during the festival; the already swamped roads have new company — the gigantic temple cars parked on the road opposite the main entrance of the Kapaleeswarar temple. The cars look magnificent; they are the star attractions of the festival. Thousands of people come to see the deity being carried in procession on them.
Next to the cars stands a man selling wooden flutes. Perhaps they’re a better bet than the bangles? Wood is sturdier. But the winnows are surely even better. Woven with cane, the hand-crafted structure used to separate grains is sure to add value to the kitchen, even if it’s just hung by a nail on the wall as a thing of beauty. Temple jewellery? A lady has displayed them on the road. Miniature aluminium kitchen sets? Handbags? Palm-leaf hand fans?
“It costs ₹ 80,” says Yanthamma. Moments later, she brings the price down to ₹ 60. She badly wants to make a sale. “Won’t you buy one?” she asks. The gypsy woman sells it with beads and earrings. “ Undivil ,” she explains. “Kids will love it. You can use it to knock mangoes off trees.” She’s talking about catapults that men from her community have made by hand.
K Raj (who probably gave a fictional name due to an untold fear), explains how he makes it. “We use wood and rubber. I can make one in under five minutes; we buy the rubber from cycle repair shops and cobblers,” he explains. The catapult is sold at all the stalls put up by the gypsies. “We make around 100 pieces a day,” explains Raj.
He makes a living through temple festivals. “We travel from one festival to the other to set up shop,” he explains. The Velankanni festival at Besant Nagar, the festival at the Thiruvanmiyur Marundeeswarar temple... his community is always on the move. When the city celebrates, they toil. For that’s when they can make money. We finally choose the catapult. The fact that it has been handmade just for the festival makes it so special.
