A burst of sunlight greets visitors to stall nine inside the sprawling, aesthetically designed Kerala Arts and Crafts Village (KACV) at Vellar, near Kovalam in Thiruvananthapuram. Dozens of shining mirrors, big and small, set in beautifully crafted brass frames in different shapes catch the light and reflect it.
Inside the stall, three artisans, squatting on the floor, are busy polishing metal bits set in worked brass holders. Diligently, with a tiny piece of velvet soaked in a special solution, they keep polishing the metal till it shines like a mirror. These are craftsmen of the famous GI-tagged handmade Aranmula kannadi (Aranmula mirror), which is only made by around 200 artisans who live in Aranmula, a serene village on the banks of the Pampa in Pathanamthitta district in Kerala.
As the countdown to Vishu begins, artisans at Aranmula work around the clock to meet the demand for the Aranmula kannadi. It is one of the must-haves in the Vishukkani, an arrangement of farm produce, golden laburnum, gold coin and gold-edged cloth (neriyathu) that is traditionally kept in an uruli (a wide-mouthed vessel made of brass or bell metal) in many Hindu households in Kerala to greet the Malayali new year. There is a surge in demand for theAranmula vaalkkannadi (mirror with a handle to hold) to arrange the kani.
Showing the mirrors in different sizes that are kept on a jute sack, master craftsman Aravind Ssays that what is special about the mirror is that it is an alloy of tin and copper, the proportion of which is a closely guarded secret among the traditional craftsmen of the mirror. Aravind dismisses reports that certain secret ingredients such as herbs and soil of the river are added to the alloy, which gives it the lustre when it is polished.
“We make the alloy,” Aravind says. “Once it has cooled, we store it to be used as and when required. For making the metal bits for the mirror, we melt the alloy again in the shape of sheets and after it has cooled down, we cut it in the shape and size we require. This is what is polished into mirrors. Even the women in our family are adept at it though the actual melting of the metals and its shaping into sheets are done mostly by the men.”
As these mirrors are not mercury-coated like most mass-made mirrors in the market, both sides of the Aranmula kannadi can act as mirrors. “Since it is usually kept in brass holders, we polish only one side. It can, however, be polished on both sides. This mirror gives a true reflection, because light is reflecting directly off the surface of the metal itself, there’s no refraction as in the case of with glass mirrors.”
The story of Mirror 6
The largest Aranmula mirror, measuring 44 centimetre in diameter, is in the collection of the British Museum. Aravind and team cast a bespoke mirror that is 55-centimetre in diameter. It was commissioned by London-based designer Spandana Gopal of Tiipoi. Art connoisseur Ashok Menon, who lives in Bengaluru, put Spandana in touch with Aravind and also arranged for the mirror’s transport to London. “Named Mirror 6, as the five earlier casts broke, it is housed in a specially designed, minimalistic wooden mount to highlight the process behind the mirror’s creation. The jagged edges of the metal, which is usually smoothened, have been left as such to show how the mirror was made,” says Ashok.
Like other master craftsmen in Aranmula, Aravind learnt the craft from his father, Sivankutty, by helping him from the age of 15. A postgraduate in management, Aravind says he is proud to be continuing the craft of his forefathers. Over the years, the Aranmula kannadi has become a treasured artisanal gift and has been given to many world leaders as a gift from India. “One, with a mirror that is about two feet in size, considered the largest Arnamula Kannadi, is with designer Spandana Gopal in London. It cost ₹10 lakh and was custom-made for her.”
Although the 2018 flood in Kerala and the pandemic had been a crushing blow for the artisans, they are gradually recovering from it. Dileep M, one of the artisans polishing the mirrors, says with pride that the USP of the Aranmula kannadi is that the mirror, once polished and mounted, never loses its sheen and can be used for years together. “There is no mercury or chemical that might corrode its mirror finish. These are heirlooms. Like all handmade products, no two mirrors are the same.”
To help the artisans, the central government has been holding design workshops to give their work a new look for the modern world. Manu TA, one of the artisans helping Aravind, points out that the brass holders, earlier available in rectangular or circular shapes, are now made in conch-, banyan leaf- and sun-shaped holders with or without engravings on frames’ surface. “Nowadays, not all customers like too much engraving or ornate work on the holders. We try to have a mirror in a wide range of shapes. Some want us to have the mirrors in wooden holders,” says Dileep.
The two-year-old KACV is one of the few places where one can watch the makers of the Aranmula Kannadi at work. The price of the mirrors ranges from ₹1,700 to ₹10,000.
“It takes at least a week to make one mirror from scratch. We make about 50 in a month. It is a matter of pride for us when the government gifts the Aranmula Kannadi to State guests and international leaders,” says Aravind.
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