Even though Deepavali is popularly known as the ‘Festival of Lights,’ earthen lamp makers and sellers in the city say that the demand for lamps to lighten up homes has sharply declined over the last decade.

“There are very few people who come and buy lamps ahead of Deepavali. We have a few north Indian families who come to our shops a few days before the festival but other than that, there is less demand,” said an earthen lamp seller at Aarapalayam.

The area near the Aarapalayam bus stop is dotted with small shops selling earthenware such as pots and other artefacts throughout the year. “Apart from bulk orders for lamps to be used at functions in educational institutions and sale for a few days before ‘kaarthigai deepam,’ there are hardly any customers,” the lamp sellers rue.

Most of the lamps sold here are procured from small colonies of artisans in and around the city. In one such colony at Paravai, more than 15 families have been engaged in making earthen lamps over the last few years.

“We don’t have any individual customers but only sell in wholesale to lamp sellers at Aarapalayam and other companies that place orders with us in bulk,” said R. Palanichamy, an artisan. “We are engaged in making lamps throughout the year and there is no major difference in sale during deepavali for us,” he noted.

The artisans who make handmade earthen lamps said that companies who used to source lamps from them to redecorate and sell during the festive season now preferred machine-made lamps.

“Lamps like that are made near Viruthachalam. While our ceramic and earthen lamps used to be in demand before, the small earthen lamps used in temples through the year has become our mainstay,” said P. Amudha, an artisan in the area.

The artisans have their own share of woes when it comes to sourcing raw materials for the lamps. “The mud we use to make the lamps used to be freely available in tank beds before but now, there are restrictions for using it. We are procuring mud from Usilampatti now at a cost of more than Rs. 5,000 for six buckets and are forced to pay transportation charges as well,” the artisans said.