Aranmula Kannadi - A Visual Tour.

Aranmula kannadi or the Aranmula mirror is not just another mirror. It is part of history.

Aranmula is place in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. This town is famous for two more reasons.

The Aranmula boat race, when the traditional Kerala snake boats race for the crown during the Onam season and the Aranmula Parthasarathi temple

Aranmula Kannadi is not glass, it is metal !!! The creation formula of this metal mirror is known to a single family in Aranmula and is passed on to their next generation. It is made to order. I too got one made for me and I will just take you through a visual tour of the same.

The order for this mirror was made through a native of the place. The mirror once crafted was delivered in a jewellery like packing.

With utmost curiosity the packing was opened.

The packing contained 5 distinct items

1. The Aranmula Mirror

2. A brochure clearly describing the history and usage precautions

3. Cleaning cloth

4. A cover containing cleaning powder

5. A visiting card of the master craftsman.

Anyone will fall in love with the elegant design of the mirror.

The shape of the mirror itself has some significance for the attraction it generates. The brochure contains details on how the traditional technology has been transferred through the generation.

The craftsmanship is evident if one looks closely at each of the patterns.

The mirror has a royal stance too. It is surely an adorable item.

The normal glass mirrors with a reflective back cover will never give the real life image since there is some amount of refraction too. The Aranmula mirror does not have the problem of refraction as there is no glass part above the shining surface. The shining surface is on top itself. A simple experiment can be done to verify this.

Just place an object touching the mirror, the reflection of the object will be touching the object. Do this experiment in a normal glass mirror. The reflected image will not touch the object.

Reflections in a normal mirror. See the gap between reflections

Reflections in an Aranmula Kannadi. There is no gap between reflections

I will update about the longevity of this mirror in due course of time.

For the time I am quite happy about the vintage masterpiece.