Diwali 2022: Mumbaikars keeping alive the tradition of making kandil

Abhishek Sawant, a Virar resident makes paper lantern

Rather than opting to buy creative and innovative lanterns from the local markets, a few Mumbaikars prefer to make their own traditional paper lanterns (kandil) to celebrate the festival of lights every year.

A 33-year-old Abhishek Sawant, a Virar resident says he wants to keep the Diwali tradition alive. Even when there are more designs of Chinese lanterns available in the market, he prefers to make traditional paper lanterns.

Sawant, said, "It's been a few years since I make my own lantern for my house. While the bamboo base of my lantern is reused, I try to add my creativity using colourful papers and innovative designs to make it look different every year. While the preparation starts a week in advance of the Diwali festival to buy colourful papers and conceptualise it, the lantern is prepared in two days."

Also read: Diwali 2022: Dharavi's potter community trying to meet higher demand for diyas this year

Sawant adds that youngsters in his society, as well as nearby societies, come together a week before the festival to make one big lantern for the society. "The society lantern is made up of cloth material so that it can sustain for a longer time till the festival is over. It is fun to see the youngsters coming together to celebrate the festival in an eco-friendly way."

Speaking about the traditional look of his lantern, he added, "During my childhood days, I preferred using different shapes of lanterns every year but as I grew up, I understood the importance of celebrating the festival in a traditional way as possible."

Similar to Sawant, Aayush Agre, a resident of Dadar, too prefers to give his lantern a traditional look. "In the local markets, we see many lanterns made of plastic materials. We all know the fact that plastics are not reusable and are hazardous to the environment. Rather than buying them, I prefer to make lanterns using creep papers and make the Diwali lantern in its traditional form."

Aayush, along with his group of friends, has been in lantern making business for the past few years. "We take orders from political parties, societies as well as households. All the lanterns are either made up of paper or cloth."