Payyannur, Kerala

30 April 2015 - Day 2

We headed out with our cameras and found that Payyannur followed a 'Bandh' for some reason on that day. The result of which we had to walk till the artisan's place - visited a temple on our way - 'Shree Swamy kshetra' as called by the localite, otherwise Sri Subramanya Temple. It was very beautiful, we stood outside the Garbhagriha and the drum beats that played inside was elevating. One should definitely spare time to listen to the sound of Kerala drums. 

The Shree Kshetra Swamy Temple

Sri Subramanya Temple painting on postcard by Sand (me)

That ten minute visit of the temple was so energizing. We walked for another twenty to thirty minutes, getting some guidance we reached the destination. There was a man working with cement - building some kind of structure with help of two other people. Lija and us, we greeted them, and she probably spoke a little more about why we were there, in Malayalam. We were greeted well with some welcome drink (I'm guessing it must be orange tang☺️) and I began taping that cement structure as Vinodh explained about it. 

Mr. Vinodh Padoli is younger son of Sri. Padoli Govindan Anthithiriyan and has Masters Degree in Information Technology from University of Kannur. He decided to quit his IT job and contribute to the traditional craft work that the family was into. They were traditional craft makers in Payyannur who made idols of dieties in Bell Metal, Gold and silver, and everyone in the family contributed in making these brass castings. 

Sri. Padoli Govindan Anthithiriyan along with his wife and son at work. 

Mrs. Anthithiriyan appeared to be a strict lady who hardly smiled until that moment where we saw her shying away when we tried to tape her work. She took off, came in later to treat us with lunch. The house was beautiful with red tiled roofing with typical balcony with wooden cover. We sat on the dining table and Mrs Anthithiriyan alone served us with vegetable rice, curries and papad.  

Delicious appetite! Thank you Mrs. Anthithiriyan.

One thing I noticed about people here in Payyannur was they knew how to greet anyone with great smile and offer a glass of water. The water would slightly be reddish pink in color as it would be boiled with some ayurvedic roots. The lunch was delicious and Mr. Vinodh joked if we wished to have a nap. 

Water boiled with some ayurvedic roots. 

The piece of Brass casting that I'm holding is called as Vyali.

Mr. Vinod was working on the details using wax.

We documented the process of casting, detailed work with wax, clay coating and the furnace set-up. We were so engrossed in work and we hardly noticed the time. Luckily we had Mr. Anthithiriyan speak about bell metal craft by 5 in the evening which got us coverage for interview session. We had Mrs. Anthithiriyan talk as well as she was such an inspiring woman who balanced house task and Bell Metal works. We din't find her resting for a minute even and with such support from loved one will definitely bring out quality work that reaches another level.
Further information on Brass casting: http://www.dsource.in/resource/brass-casting-kerala

It was lovely to see such dedicated family who took pride in making bell metal crafts. It was 6 pm and Mr. Anthithiriyan had to leave to the temple (where he was the main Priest) and the rest continued with work. 

We quickly took pictures with him and he blessed us with good wishes for life. The process of buffing, the ones that we thought we had skipped were recorded before calling it a wrap. The day seemed completely occupied with work and amidst that I had managed to click some pictures of flowers grown on the portico and other things that caught my eye. 

Removing the outer cover of heated clay.

Some flowering plants.

Birds chirping and cheering.

Another kind of white flower. 

Brass Metal Door lock design 

Sri. Padoli Govindan Anthithiriyan

Around 7 pm we left their place. The moon walked along as we wondered why there were no street lights while heading back to the hotel. It was dinner-sleep routine once we reached. 

Kerala ❤️

My first visit to Kerala
Through & on the streets of God's Own Country

The most awaited field visit to Kerala was confirmed - finally! A team of four were leaving from National Institute of Design, Bengaluru to document handcrafts that were listed. I was one among the four and I was very excited as it was the first documentation experience I was going to witness.

National Institute of Design runs a project called E-Kalpa, which aims at 'Creating Digital - Learning Environment for Design' sponsored by the Ministry of Human Resources, Government of India. And we visit many places to find the traditional handicrafts, document them and upload in the website D'source. 

Further Information on the Project: http://www.dsource.in/about

It was another working day for us as the bus that we were going to board was at 9 pm, I left office at 5 in the evening and reached my home to pick my luggage. It was all packed the previous day and din't take much of my time. Mom along with Sophie ( neighbor's 3 years old daughter) came to bid goodbye, I waved at them as I got into an auto. 

Mr Darshan (Team Lead) was very happy to see us all on time. We had our small meeting with the project head Mr Baral regarding the visit. The cab was waiting for us outside to drop until the bus stand. The longing visit to Kerala was now getting real.

I was gazing at the computer one day all lost, while at work in an advertising company I was in and my cell phone vibrates showing a notification. It was from a friend of mine who'd visited a place in Hampi, and the post said 'fun while at work' ! The travel bug just got awake that day.  I couldn't think of anything else but to ask my friend about the work he was into. I got all the details from him and I could hardly wait to apply. 

I joined NID in the month  of January, 2015 looking forward for an amazing travel experience. Three months had gone by and there was no sign of travel. Meanwhile processing all the data we'd got from the previous visits - I was getting restless.. and then I hear that the visit to Kerala was confirmed. I went Yeyyee! in my mind. 

29 April 2015 - Day1
I just woke up - to see a beautiful lake out from the bus window that was very refreshing and an early morning cool breeze was cheerful too. The bus halted at Payyannur after twenty minutes. All the equipment and our luggage were carried by ourselves to the Bombay Hotel which was a hundred meters away from the bus stop. 

The first craft on the list to document - Lija spoke in Malayalam with the artist and got the address. We headed out, reached his place early as it was 200 meters around the corner of our hotel. He worked in a small room, all the tools were stacked nicely on one side of the wall. He was patient enough to show us the process stepwise. The process was covered by noon and we wrapped it with the interview of the artist. 

The making of jewelry was very interesting, small-tiny rolls of gold were rolled on the palm and attached to the main ring to give it a rich and traditional look. So much work went-in in making of the traditional Pavithra Mothiram ring yet in the hands of artist it all looked simply effortless. It was the very first experience of ring making and it was captivating for us. 

Pavithra Mothiram Ring.

We quickly finished our lunch and the next place to visit for the documentation was about 600 meters away so we took an auto. The auto passed by the narrow streets and we discovered some beautiful houses, they were big and beautiful, most of them looked similar with white paint red roofing and typical balcony with wooden cover. We halted near a small lake as the auto couldn't go further. 

We reached the place; that is me in the picture looking at the sign board wondering what is written in Malayalam. 

Looking at the sign board wondering..

Found this brick structure on the way to the weaver's work place. 

One or two weavers were rolling threads onto bobbins while the fellow weavers were having their lunch and the machines maintained their silence. 
The brick hut with red tiled roofing was long enough to hold about ten to fifteen weave machines. Women were the dominant workers here and there were only three men in the house. 
As we entered this place, where the weavers had began their weaving we witnessed such a positive vibe. They had such a wonderful spark on their faces, they all spoke to each other and laughed cracking jokes while at work. I continued my tape not understanding what they actually spoke but laughing when ever they did. The interesting thing was they were all of forty years age group and their zeal to work was inspiring. They seemed happy working together. One of them distributed sweets in celebration of her daughter's engagement. They reflected all the happiness in their weaving and we could see it as they weaved beautiful buttas and pallus designs flawlessly while talking to us, the master skills of the weavers were so good. The sound from the machines wouldn't allow us to record for the interview so we had to trouble them a little by asking to halt until the interview was finished. They spoke everything about how the weaving began, specialty of Payyannur sarees and the market they had until recently.
The first day's document experience was getting good. The people had inspired us - to stay confident, independent, strong, to hold warmth and keep smiling. It was 4 pm and we wound our session by clicking some of the pictures  of sarees as products.

http://www.dsource.in/resource/cotton-weaving-kerala 

Walking on narrow streets, Payyannur.

Five headed snake covering the Shiva Linga on our way to an auto stand, Payyannur. 

We were done for the day and the travel bug within me was eager to see Perumba river but unfortunately it was denied by our team head. The feeling I got within was inexpressible. I just couldn't sit anymore in the hotel so I took a walk. Kerala women like almost all of them wore saree and men wore lungi. I could hardly find people wearing western clothes. I had a funny sign language with a Malayalee person to pack some  biscuits and banana chips for me. It was 6 pm and I had to head back to the hotel; on my way saw a long line of people,  since I was unaware of the language I just had to walk. I put all the things in my bag, Lija was sleeping and I too lie on the bed. 

Lija woke me up when it was 9 pm and we had to go down for our dinner. All shops close by 8 at Payyannur and luckily our hotel person saved our appetite. 

Idly and Puttu was available since we were late and it was delicious. 

It was a quite a day and the humid of Kerala had taken us down. All we needed after dinner was good sleep to relax and kick start our next day.