50% drop in footfall at 'Deepa Soundarya' expo

Mysuru: While "Asathoma Sadgamaya"- moving from darkness to light, is apt for festival of lights – city-based Ramsons Kala Prathishtana has come up with a display of more than 2,000 traditional earthern lamps at their "Deepa Soundarya" expo for this Deepavali. Led lights may have become popular, but it has not faded the charm of traditional earthen lamps as Mysureans, undeterred by Covid, rushed to Ramsons' bombe mane craft gallery at Nazarbad here, to buy colourful designer diyas to light up their homes. However, they have cut down on their purchase by 70 percent due to financial crunch, according to organizers.

They have displayed lamps manufactured by over 15 craftsmen families from within the State, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. There are eco friendly lamps made of clay, ceramic and terracota and painted with natural colours with sizes ranging from two inch to 16 inches and price ranging between Rs 25 and Rs 2,000. There are single and multiple diyas with the motifs of Lord Ganesha and elephant. From Mughal style glass lanterns to hanging lamps, lamp-shades made of terracotta, tea lights, tea light holders, magic lamps (though the oil is filled through a hole from the bottom, oil doesn't spill), statues of Goddess Lakshmi and lord Ganesha, Urulis- pots to hold floating lamps, Rangoli designs, colourful dolls to blend with lamps to enhance the beauty, which have been a visual treat.

Speaking to The Hans India, R. J. Singh, the organiser of the expo and owner of Ramsons Kala Prathishtaana said, "We have reduced the display of lamps by 50 percent this year due to Covid-19. We usually place order for lamps in January, February and again in April. But this year, we have received lamps for which order we had placed in January and February. Due to the pandemic, we did not place order in April. Since the craftsmen do not have money to invest on raw materials even their production has come down by 70 percent. The artisans and craftsmen are hoping for support via "Aathma Nirbhar" programme," he said.

He added, "In fact, there is a 50 percent drop in visitors at the expo compared to previous years as elderly people and children are staying away . Only middle-aged people are visiting and buying lamps. We used to have people from not just Mysuru, but also different parts of the State and even other parts of the country including Hyderabad, Tirupathi and Chennai. But we do not have those visitors from outside this year. Since people are facing financial crunch, they have reduced the purchase by 70 percent," Mr R J Singh said.