The flooding of miniature LED lights during the festive season has practically ruined the business prospects of traditional earthen lamps (diyas) and candles. Down the ages, diyas enlightened homes on festive occasions, which were lit with either ghee or oil. Lighting diyas with ghee or oil is considered auspicious during the festival of lights.
However, with the passage of time the colourful candles and later mini LED lights have become the favourite with the customers. These decorative lights come cheap and are easy to instal and are not affected with strong winds. These attractive lights now flood the markets due to its high demand. Potters Raghunath Pandit and Surendar, along with other potters of the district have been in the business for the last four decades. They said even seven years back, there was a good demand for diyas.
During the festive season, nearly 10 of us laboured hard to meet the demand for earthen lamps but today the situation is quite different. “At present, there is no demand for deepaks, which once symbolized the rich traditional social and religious culture of the country. Today, it has lost its importance with the advent of mini LED lights. People find the LED lights handy, cheap and attractive hence they have switched over,” said the potters.
The candle manufacturing unit at Mankundu is at presnt struggling for its existence. The manager of the candle manufacturing unit said that some seven years back, 30 employees could not meet the demand for candles during the festive season. “We shaped out candles from 6 inches to 5 foot in length. Today, the demands for candles have fallen alarmingly.
At present, 12 employees do not have much work even during the festive season. The demand for mini LED lights and other accessories have completely ruined the prospects of candle business. One by one, the cottage and small scale industries are getting wound up,” said the manager