Simply spoilt for choice

Given the wave of anti-cracker sentiment that sweeps the City every Deepavali, it’s not surprising that many Bangaloreans opt for a safer, cleaner way to celebrate the festival.

And for those who look around, the options are limitless — at this time of the year, the market is flooded with a wide collection of diyas, candles, lamps and other such ornamental trinkets.

While the traditional earthenware diyas never go out of fashion, plenty of homes in the City are decorated with interesting variations.

While some Bangaloreans opt to paint clay diyas with colourful mosaics and other designs, others go the whole hog and pick up designer diyas— a more glittery
alternative.

Many also choose to light candles instead and given the huge range of scented and coloured candles in the market, they are spoilt for choice. Ranjini, a professional, feels that candles present an interesting twist to the authentic Deepavali decor.

“I like to pick up the small, scented candles — they’re available in a lot of bright colours at the Jayanagar 4th Block market,” she admits. She still makes it a point to set out several diyas, though. “I buy my diyas in bulk from Gandhi Bazaar. I like the ordinary clay ones,
which come in many different designs. We like to put several of them outside and for
that, we pick up diyas which have covers on them — that way, the wind doesn’t pose a problem,” she says.

Vikas, from The Candle Shop, explains that the products tend to fly off the shelves at this time of the year.  “Basically, we have a lot of traditional stuff — painted candles and even diyas. At this time of the year, people tend to pick these up — especially the diyas, they’re the fastest-selling at this point,” he says.

The Malleswaram market also has a huge selection of diyas, which come in myriad shapes and sizes — while some are small and traditional, others are decorated with scalloped edges and electric colours. Shruthi, a professional, says that most of her diya shopping takes place at the old market.

“Apart from that, I also like to pick up designer diyas from Chitrakala Parishat — they’re really pretty. There are also some interesting electric diyas in the market, with plastic covers — when the normal ones run out, we tend to use them. They come in bright colours and different sizes,” she adds.

But the safest bet for anyone looking for a wide range of diyas, says Yathindra Lakkana, a professor at NIFT, is Pottery Town. “The scale on which the market operates is huge.
In fact, many corporates also approach the artisans there for bulk orders.
There’s one particular artisan named Rajashekhar, whose shop is fairly popular. Customers can actually visit his store, tell him the kind of design they want
and he will make their diyas accordingly — in fact, a customer can actually
make his or her diya and Rajashekhar will put the finishing touches,” he
says.

There was a time, he adds, when the artisans in Pottery Town tried to get innovative with their produce — but these days, earthenware diyas seem to be selling the most.
“At one point, they were actually selling Plaster of Paris diyas — but I don’t
think there was much demand for that. So now, everyone sticks to the earthenware ones,” he sums up.