Upholding artistic legacy of Chinna Thari Pettai

CHENNAI: Once called Chinna Thari Pettai and now known as Chintadripet is one of the vibrant and colourful neighbourhoods in Chennai and Iyya Mudali Street is a testament to this. House for two major artisan clusters, this street is filled with bamboo logs, velvet clothes, silk fabrics, ribbons, beads, and many other decoratives.

“The locality was Chinna Thari Pettai because earlier people were doing weaving business here,” starts the temple umbrellas and dry garland makers. “It was called the village of small looms. The British created the settlement to manufacture clothes for them. With the advent of power loom and chemical dyes, the handloom sector dwindled. Then, many artisans moved to Kanchipuram and continued the craft,” adds Abirami DM, sociologist.

As we enter Iyya Mudali Street, the first few metres are occupied by dry garland shops, and the rest is dominated by umbrella makers. “The community makes sure that everyone has some work to do. The 'kodai' makers will not take up the garland business and vice versa,” Abirami tells DT Next.

Enku Shah Kumar, a fifth-generation umbrella maker, jumped into the craft after facing financial constraints doing other business. “This is our family business. People cannot get into this with the aim of making money. The work is dedicated to god. So, we have to do it with utmost interest and wholeheartedly,” he says.

Predominantly, umbrella-making is a generational business. But Ramesh Kumar is the first person from his family to try his hands at the loom. “I was working in a grocery store and used to spend time at my friend’s umbrella shop and observing the process. After incurring heavy losses in the previous business, I started working on temple umbrellas. Chintadripet is known for umbrella making. Then comes Kanchipuram and Madurai, as the cluster there are the ones migrated from here,” Ramesh states.

Interestingly, Saurashtrians dominate the temple canopy-making business. Any idea why? “There are no official historical references as to how Saurashtrians from the western part of India, settled in Tamil Nadu. It is believed that they migrated 250 years ago, during the regime of Thirumalai Nayakar in Madurai. They were brought to make attires for the royal families. Even today, Madurai has a strong base of the Saurashtrian community. The community is associated with silk and its trade. Now in Chintadripet, we have 10-15 families in each craft,” elucidates the 23-year-old sociologist, who runs an Instagram page, Namma Stories, documenting the different crafts and art forms of south India. On the other hand, Ramesh says that, unlike the olden days, now people from other communities are also part of the business. “There is nothing like the field is not accessible to others. But consistent hard work and interest is required to excel in the craft,” he adds. The artisans believe that the clusters in the neighbourhood were formed at least a century ago.

The process of making an umbrella is tedious and requires the closest attention. “Earlier, the umbrellas used to last for at least six decades. But currently because of the tight deadline the quality of the product is getting affected. The frame is of dry bamboo, which is dried in the sun for 10 days and again soaked in water for 10 tens and then dried again. This is done to increase the stability and strength of bamboo,” explains Enku Shah, who has more than 40 years of experience in the field. He also states that the sunku will be made by the women in the household, making it a family-run business. “Traditionally, the designs of the umbrellas were plain and minimal. But with growing time, we have started incorporating different colours and decoratives. Earlier, we used to take one month to make a product. Now it is barely a week. The frame will take one day to be installed. The biggest umbrella is 16 feet, which will cost around Rs 50,000,” shares the 44-year-old Ramesh.

However, Abirami has a different perspective. “There has been a gradual shift in the process. In those days, pure Kanchipuram silk was used. Today, they use more commercial components. Talking about dry garlands, jari has almost become extinct as it is time-consuming, labour-intensive, and expensive. Ribbon and currency note garlands are the ones going well now,” she remarks.

Many confuse between Kerala umbrella and the Madurai umbrella. Gives us a clarification, Enku Shah differentiates, “The frame of Kerala one is made of metal and what we do is with bamboo. That is the major difference.”

Coming to the colourful dry garland business, we came to know that it is going through a low phase. “There are shortage of labours and customers are also not upgraded in terms of price. They wish to buy a 'maalai' at a cost that prevailed two decades ago,” laments PS Raja Shah. The types of maalai are jarigai, sandalwood, fruits, silk thread, currency and javadhu. Raja believes in the phrase, Kai Thozhil Ondru Katrukol Kavalai Unakillai Otru Kol. “Since the pandemic, people have started following a minimalistic approach. Many of the old customers are vanished. Former Chief Minister of the state, late MG Ramachandran used to greet leaders with sandal and javadhu garlands. But ever since the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, the whole scenario collapsed. People started preferring to avoid sandal maalai on many occasions. December and January used to be the peak season. But Tsunami was another blow,” shares the 48-year-old.

Raja has delivered garlands for Chiranjeevi, Rajinikanth, and GK Moopanar in the past. “Nowadays, gifting books, shawls, and saplings is the trend,” he smiles glumly. His father, Shankar Shah, who has been in the field for more than four decades, witnessed a change in the preferences. “People buy garland only for retirement, death, and political events. It is highly doubtful if the next generation will carry forward this traditional art as it requires immense interest from within,” reflects the 72-year-old.

The umbrella business is flourishing with a rise in customers. The artisans are exporting to remote villages and also countries like Malaysia, Canada, Burma, the United States Of America, China, Singapore, and more. Even major temples within India including Tiruvannamalai temple, Tiruchendur Murugan Temple, and Ram Temple in Ayodhya. “For the business to sustain, there should be standard pricing as customers will prefer reasonable prices. We use locally sourced materials. To date, there are no government schemes to improve our livelihood,” Ramesh shares.

Another artisan Sharath thinks that word of mouth plays a major role in the business compared to social media. “Social media is a powerful tool. But that is not where we get our regular customers from,” he believes.

“In my opinion, both the businesses have become less sustainable because of the commercialisation. It comes into play with the demand as well. People want less cost and fast delivery. The fish market is the dominant face of the locality. However, craft enthusiasts find both clusters to be synonymous with the neighbourhood. Even the residents of Chintadripet do not have a wider knowledge about the traditional crafts,” Abirami concludes.