Aranmula Mirror

Aranmula has the supreme and sole distinction of making a wonderful type of metal mirror called 'Aranmula Kannadi'. Aranmula Kannadi the unique metal mirrors of Aranmula, reflects a rich cultural as well as metallurgical heritage of a golden past in the history of kerala.

The Aranmula metal mirror had lured many researchers from far - off places like the United States, France, Germany as well as from the Indian Institutes of Technology at Bombay, Madras and Ahemedabad to this village in the past several years. British Museum in London keeps an eighteen inch tall Aranmula Kannadi.

The mirror is the clear evidence of the rare combination of technological and creative skills. There are centuries old mysteries behind the making of this exquisite piece of traditional metallurgy, Which is now confined only to two households of master craftsmen in aranmula. These refraction less metal mirrors are an artistic piece of attraction the world over.

The origin of the metal mirrors of Aranmula is closely laced with the Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple which is deemed to be the nerve center of the Pamba Valley civilization.

The legend has it that eight families of experts in temple arts and crafts had been brought by the local royal chief to Aranmula from Sankarankoil situated in the present day Tirunelveli district of Tamilnadu in connection with certain works in the Parthasarathy temple centuries ago.

However, as generations passed by, the descendants of these artisans turned lazy and also a public nuisance that ultimately made the local king to order their eviction form Aranmula itself. The worried artisan families entreated Lord Krishna, the presiding deity of the Parthasarathy Temple to come to their rescue.

It is believed that the artisans had a divine vision the same night that prescribed the composition of the metal surface that will give distortion free images.

The legend goes that the artisans made a magnificent crown with the alloy as they perceived in the divine vision and presented it to the king who was pleased and honored them with land and jewels.

The artisans had chosen mirror making their profession through generations. However, with the changing times, the tradition of bronze smiths who make the Aranmula metal mirrors has been limited to only one family that presently houses just 10 artisans.

Subramanian Achary and Arjunan Achary are the only two master craftsmen of the aranmuala metal mirrors. According to Arjunana Achary, some undisclosed metals are alloyed with copper and tin to cast the Aranmuala Kannadi in typical clay moulds. The mirror is being made in the age old lost wax process in traditional style after melting the metals in a pit furnace fitted with a manual blower. The casting is removed from the clay mould and the moulded disk is being mounted to a wooden plank to polish it using well ground burnt clay powder and castor oil on a jute cloth. The polishing can go on for one to two days so as to achieve highly reflective surfaces. The polished mirrors are usually mounted on brass frames.

The price: The smallest Aranmula Kannadi is two-and-a-half inches and is priced starting from US $ 10.