Tag Archives: diwali

Heart of the (h)earth

Deepavali is the festival of lights.

Literally, a row of lights (Deepa – lamp light, avali – row) lit to dispel darkness, celebrated on a new-moon night, in the Indian calendar month of Kartik.

Many mythological stories and legends abound on the events that led to celebrating the festival of lights, with a regional flavour – as also the origins and types of fire-crackers used, but all that’s for another day.

Handmade earthen lamps stacked in a plastic bowl

Lamps made of clay have a native charm. The handmade red-ochre deepa are traditionally made by potters, painstakingly following age-old pottery techniques. Earthen Pottery in India can be traced back, historically, earlier to 2,000 BCE, or beginning of the Harappan civilisation.

Scouring Bangalore’s markets for handmade earthen lamps/deepa was a learning experience. Though we had always sought earthen lamps, ‘handmade‘ was of special focus this Deepavali – for various reasons – a) they are easier to make, b) consume lesser clay per piece, c) easily return to earth, d) of course, cost less.

The potter’s clay is a mixture of soft soil taken from river basins and village tanks, fertile soil from irrigation water-structures, and sand from river beds. The mixture is wetted with water, left for a week to sag and then stomped continuously for a couple of hours for a smooth texture. The softened clay is then hand-crafted into little deepas. Once the wares are made, they are left to dry in the sun for two days (coloured with red-ochre in some areas) and then baked in an earthen oven / kilns at 120 degrees for 12 hours. Stacks of hay, field-straw, twigs and even dead branches of native trees are used as fuel. Naturally, earthenware flourished in the regions where large perennial-rivers flowed. Though few rivers died (like the Saraswati), the craft sustained or adapted to new situations.

Across India, regional techniques of clay pottery evolved over centuries, and continues to this day – most notable are: Kangra in Himachal, Mansa, Bankura, and Midnapore in West Bengal, Alwar and Molela in Rajasthan, Nizamabad and Prayagraj  in UP, Kutch and Saurashtra in Gujarat, Delhi-Haryana region, Thane and western Maharashtra; in the South, the loamy soil of Manamadurai and 15 surrounding villages in Tamil Nadu dominate the deepa market, while Kerala’s Peringottukurissi near Ernakulam, Peruvemba and Ezhumangad near Palakkad, Doora in Mysore dist, Khanapur near Belgaum, Chitoor dist of Andhra, and n small pockets of Konkan, Goa and Pondicherry are the others.

Many of the potters, Kumbhars (kumbh – pot), have carried their regional traditions over generations. Of them, very few continue to make deepas by hand – most have switched to moulds. Down a slippery slope, the art is on the wane – lack of skill lead in the current generation led to poor quality and resultant breakage (both handling and transport). Evidently, moulded lamps are more sought after by makers and sellers. Historically, there have been many forms / types of lamps used in festivities, including stone, brass, bell-metal, silver, even gold. Temples especially preferred deepa stambha (pillar of lamps) made of stone (granite of choice).

Elaborately decorated, intricately carved Deepa Stambha of single granite rock,
at Sri Harihareshwara Temple, Harihar – built in 1224 AD by a Hoysala general Polalva

A potter uses ~75 kgs of clay for a thousand handmade deepa of 2” dia in a day; while moulded ones require almost double the quantity but lesser time. Cost-wise, handmade ones sell Rs. 30 per doz in the cities, for simple elegant types without flashy paints, kitsch; while mould ones cost double. Traditional deepa are preferred, but lesser in demand and the cheap imported plastic items have taken over the scene.

Led fairy lights, plastic/paper lanterns, or wax candles, pale in comparison to the warm-glow of the earthen lamps – they are not only friendly to the earth but also provide livelihood to the thousands of kumbhars, who live in poverty and infinite-debt.

The lady from whom I ultimately bought the handmade lamps revealed that 90% of earthen lamps sold in Bangalore come from TN. Our own Pottery town is in shambles, as many potters shifted out over the years, and those who have remained are content making commercially viable articles like planters, water-pots, even kulhads / tea-cups. Deep search yields moulded earthen lamps upon coaxing, that too in joint-family-homes where older generations still exist.

Lighting lamps are a means to not only get rid of darkness, but also denotes dispelling anger, greed, hatred and all such unwelcome feelings. The lamps also stand for good luck. The traditional deepa were lit using cow-ghee or til/sesame seed oil or coconut oil in coastal areas with wicks made of cotton; but recently, various oils and blends are used in the name of ‘deepam-oil’.

A lamp lit with ghee emits satvik vibrations and thus completes the wholesome spiritual experience. an oil lamp too emits positive vibrations, but at a lesser frequency. It is also said, the fumes and heat generated from a ghee-lamp are beneficial in health perspective; which isn’t the case with oils, especially the recent blends, which contain mineral oil (refined waste machine-oil derived from petrol), Paraffin, and Palm oil.

Did you know?
Earthen lamps, called Deepa in Sanskrit and its derived dialects across India, diya in Hindi-Arabic, vilakku in Tamil-Kerala, pramida in Telugu, matira-pradipa in Bengali, among others.
Terracotta originated from terra cocta, meaning earth-baked in Italian, and includes both glazed and non-glazed pottery. It has come to be used as a common term for all earthen items across the world.

A Sanskrit shloka encapsulates the essence of lighting a lamp:

शुभं करोति कल्याणमारोग्यं धनसंपदा ।
शत्रुबुद्धिविनाशाय दीपज्योतिर्नमोऽस्तुते ॥
That which bestows auspiciousness, health, wealth and prosperity,
which destroys inimical feelings and hatred,
Salutations to the light of the lamp!

This year, Deepavali is special; the world is going through a tricky but deadly pandemic, which is seen waning one day, but resurfacing with a vengeance the next! India is the second most affected nation and there isn’t a cure worth of mention. Precautions to avoid Covid-19 ought to continue, and festivities should be muted, celebrated in spirit.

So, keep it earthy, simple, and stay safe!

Shubh Deepavali!
शुभ दीपावली!

Images in this post belong to the author. Information gleaned from various sources, incl kumbhars,sellers and the net.

SUSTAIN – Light, Sound, Action

Winter is setting in, and during this season air pollution rises to dangerous levels, energy and food wastages increase exponentially, plastic packaging including debris litter the roads and several children, sick elderly and animals suffer. That’s how we have celebrated our festivals. But this time around, let’s do it with a difference.

The title of this piece actually meant – more LIGHT, less SOUND, alternate ACTION!

We celebrate our festivals with vigour, we also add a lot of waste and freely contribute to air pollution. Given the poor quality of air that we breathe every day, it may come as no surprise that the WHO has categorized air pollution as the sixth biggest cause of deaths in India, triggering an alarm, The air quality in NCR has turned “very poor” and with the onset of festive season, and it is expected to get worse in the days to come, mitigated somewhat by stop-gap measures by local Govts.

Deepavali is the festival of lights – literally, a series of lights. Its not clear when the tradition of bursting fire-crackers started, but its manufacturing began in 1900’s at a small town called Sivakasi in TN. By the 40’s it was a flourishing industry, and in 2010 when NCR discovered crackers as a main air pollutant during early winters, there were more than 650 units churning out crackers of every shape, size, sound and lights! The industry of ~3k crore turnover employing 25k local people of which >60% are women, is grappling with the rapid changes and regulations. Of course, the town also makes majority of matches, supports defense requirements, and has a thriving printing industry.

Avoid crackers – This festival season, reduce your contribution to poor air quality by avoiding crackers. If this seems hard to follow, then green firecrackers are the one to blow. Low on emissions and within permissible sound limits, these have lesser polluting particles and are less harmful. Light diyas, made of clay using ordinary oil and cotton wick; ditch the candles.

Celebrate together – Another thing to do this festive season is to opt for a community celebration. The Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) could take a lead and celebrate together, instead of separately at homes; and that’s the way it still happens in our villages so we, the city folks, should go back to our roots and emulate. The intangible benefits are many. It will bring the entire neighbourhood together, help people bond better with each other, and make the festive joy grow manifold.

Colour Right – A recent UN Environment Programme study found out that the contribution of indoor air pollution to ambient air pollution in India is estimated to vary between 22% and 52%. Believe it or not, some of it is contributed by the indoor air paint. So if you are planning to get your house painted, then opt for eco-friendly, zero VOC paints. These use water-based solvents and help reduce or eliminate the release of volatile organic compounds in the indoor spaces, apart from being renewable, are available in a variety of colours, durable, and are long-lasting.

Wanton Waste – Waste management crisis affects all our cities and towns, which is taking a serious toll on our environment, economy and public health; inadvertently, we add to the waste woes in some measures. By 2050, India will need a landfill, the size of Delhi for waste disposal! This time around, let’s practise the 6R principle.

REDUCE – Waste not, want not is one principle to live by because if you use what you have wisely, sparingly and completely, you will be less likely to find yourself in need of anything. Even though the ban on single-use plastic and thermocol is in vogue, but implementation is deferred; one must avoid using plastic in any form and carry a cloth or jute bag instead when we go shop-hopping.

REUSE – Be thoughtful while selecting gifts; keep it sweet and simple. Go for potted plants; they beautify the place and also cut down indoor pollution. Use paper wraps, or cloth to wrap gifts, and add some sparkle or tie a lace around to give it a festive look – avoid shiny colourful paper made of plastic. Donate unused items.

RECYCLE – Or upcycle as much as you can. Don’t throw away earthen lamps after one time use; instead, keep them for next time. Use natural colour powders or flowers for rangoli and decor.

REFURBISH – In the festive sale-season, there’s a clamour to buy new electronic products, and we do it without a thought to the e-waste generated. Indians create of e-waste of ~2 million tonnes per annum (TPA), of which ~440k TPA is recycled. If you’re buying a new gadget, exchange with an old one to reduce e-waste; better, donate to someone needy.

REFUSE – Another sure way of reducing waste generation as a consumer is to go local. Step out, use public transport, buy from shops instead of doing it online because what’s on offer with a huge discount comes at a high environmental cost. Around 43% of plastic is used for packaging in India, and most are single-use. The bubble-sheet, cling-wrap, styrofoam and thermocol used in packing are not bio-degradable. Buying from the local market could be tiring, but can be enjoyable family time, while reducing carbon footprint.

REDESIGN – Festivals mean get-togethers, and a lot of meet, greet and eat with family and friends happen. So if you are inviting people over for a meal, avoid the disposable cutlery — plastic and thermocol — as these end up in landfills, choking drains, adding filth on our roads and kill our water bodies. This time, go green. Dump the idea of using plastic straws and buy steel or bamboo ones. Borrow cutlery from a local plate bank (eg: adamyachetana and others) that offer steel ones for a nominal charge. Just use, wash and return. If this doesn’t sound good, then buy tableware made of areca, sugarcane bagasse, bamboo or from palm, banyan or sal leaves. The tableware made of these materials is biodegradable and eco-friendly so they do not harm the environment. Or better go the traditional way and serve food on banana leaves.

LIGHT RIGHT – This festive season avoid the ritual of firing sky lanterns. The light ain’t right even though it is made of rice paper, and string. It is because the wires in these sky lanterns take years to break down and are an environmental hazard. Bright LED’s used as serial sets are cheap, imported from neighbouring countries are not tested for domestic use hence posing a hazard. Little colourful candles come in tin containers, which are so tiny that they don’t get into the recycling channel.

Soaking in the festive spirit, let’s each one of us take a small step towards making India a circular economy like other developed countries across the world. We can do it in some measure by buying local, eliminating waste and the continual use of resources or in other words by becoming resource-efficient, minimising waste generation, converting waste into useful products, maximising resource recovery and recycling for landfill-free cities. Let each one of us start, and maybe our concerted efforts will pave the way for a cleaner today and greener tomorrow.

~adapted from an article by teri