VIRUDHUNAGAR: For over a century, Scheduled Caste residents of Kamarajar Colony in Kariapatti have set aside regular jobs for three months, ahead of the Chithirai festival in Madurai to craft Thopparais (water bags made of goat hides) that would be used by devotees to spray water as a votive offering when Lord Kallalagar enters the Vaigai river. However, rising water costs and shrinking profits are now pushing these artisans, who have followed the tradition for over five generations, into mounting financial crisis.
The settlement is home to around 150 families and most of whom are daily wage labourers. Starting from Tamil month Thai/Maasi, every family invests all its time to craft Thopparais and sell them around the Meenakshi temple during the festival. Though the people cannot recall exactly when this tradition started, many say their ancestors used to pour water to cool Lord Kallalagar , and it eventually led to crafting water bags using goat hides.
S Kannan (38) told TNIE, “Earlier, we handled the entire process ourselves, from buying sheep hides from Dindigul to cleaning, soaking, liming, preserving, ironing, and stitching the hide. We have to spend Rs 250 to make one bag. Most of these processes require a huge volume of water, which we used to source from local water bodies like kanmois. But with the growing water scarcity in our region, we are buying water, which isn’t sustainable anymore as one barrel costs Rs 150. We need at least 10 barrels to process the hide.” As a result, most families are now sending hide to leather firms in Dindigul for processing which costs around Rs 520.
The artisans said that the festivities were conducted within the temple due to the pandemic for two years, which dealt them a huge blow. “We usually take loan of around Rs 1 lakh to cover manufacturing costs and daily expenses. But lockdown was imposed after we had procured materials, which landed all of us in a severe financial crisis,” said K Palanivel (37), a resident.
He added that each year, they are forced to rely on debt since they dedicate three full months to make bags and do not take up other jobs, making it essential for them to earn a decent profit to sustain. Another resident, Annamalai (35), said the government should fix a price for the product. “Each bag costs us around Rs 600 to make. However, many devotees, unaware of the extensive process and expenses involved, often ask for it at a much lower price, sometimes as low as Rs 300- Rs 400. To avoid the products going unsold we are left with no choice but to sell at low rates, leaving us with no profit,” he said.
K Karthi (35), who produces around 2,000 Thopparais each year, said not all bags get sold, forcing them to store the unsold ones at home. “Since Thopparais are single-use items and even a small amount of water can damage them, we have to be extremely careful with storage. Further, we struggle with rodent problems at home, making it difficult to preserve them safely until the next year,” he said, urging the government to provide storage facilities.
Despite the challenges, the families remain dedicated to Thopparais making every year because of their love towards Kallalagar. Support from the government would mean a lot to them.