Keeping alive the art of making traditional Goodudeepas

With a few days left for Deepavali, the festival of lights, Nagaraj Upadhya Bailoor in Udupi district is busy making traditional ‘Goodudeepa’ or lanterns for his long list of customers. Nagaraj has been engaged in this traditional art work for the past 36 years and his ‘Ashtapatti’, ‘Mantapa Goodudeepa’, are a rage among his customers.

Many customers opt for the readily available lanterns at the shops or even buy online, after being lured by their glitzy, colour, design. But the traditional eco-friendly variants are still in great demand, stresses Nagaraj.

“I do not use any plastic material in the Goodudeepa that I make. I used to prepare with colourful papers. As the quality of papers are not good, this year I have used cotton cloth for preparing the traditional lanterns. Making good use of the lockdown period, I made around 60 Ashtapattis and Mantapa Goodudeepas,” the artist told DH.

Customised Goodudeepas

A self-taught artist, he began making customised Goodudeepas for customers when he was 17 years old. He was attracted towards the art of making Goodudeepas and began on his own workshop for preparing the traditional lanterns.

Nagaraj Upadhya, when not decorating halls for wedding and other religious programmes, utilises the available time for preparing the lanterns.

“Earlier, I used to make minimum 150 traditional lanterns during Deepavali. Due to my professional life, the numbers reduced. However, I am continuing the art as there are not many who prepare traditional Ashta Patti and Mantapa Goodudeepa these days,” he declares proudly.

Upadhya has consciously decided not to use plastic for Goodudeepa. “Though many use thin plastic sheet for the borders of Goodudeepa, I use colour papers instead. It takes at least four hours to prepare one Ashtapatti Goodudeepa if the bamboo straws, cloth and colourful papers are available,” he explained.

Customers from Bengaluru

There is a good demand for the traditional lanterns. Many customers from Bengaluru come in search of traditional lanterns.

“This year, I have even supplied small straws of bamboo required for preparing Goodudeepas for shops in Udupi, so that people can prepare their own lanterns at their houses. While collecting bamboos for decorations, I keep aside small pieces that are not used and use the same in the Goodudeepas,” he explains.

Bamboo straws, glue, ropes, colour paper, cloth and patience is what goes into making these lanterns.

“Most prefer Chinese or plastic lanterns that are glittery in their looks. Nevertheless, I have enough order for handmade lanterns that help me to keep the tradition alive. My children too have learnt the art and are engaged in making traditional lanterns during their free time,” he says with pride.