Bhaktapur, October 16

With Tihar, the festival of lights, beginning tomorrow, the demand of palacha, a traditional clay lamp, has increased in the market.

In Tihar, palachas are used temporarily for lighting houses and also for religious ceremonies, especially during Laxmi Puja to welcome the goddess of wealth who according to Hindu mythology, pays visit to all homes on that  day.

Locals of the ancient city of Bhaktapur, particularly the Kumales/Prajapatis of the Newar community make palachas for the festival.

Kasi Bahadur Prajapati, a local of Libali, Bhaktapur, shared that he had been in the profession since he was nine years old. He was of the opinion that with the rise in population in the country, the demand of palachas has increased. He said it was easy to get the market for the traditional clay lamp even now; the only thing lacking is the human resource and the raw materials required to make it.

With the increased demand for palacha, Prajapatis of Chyamasingh, Bolachhen, Pottery Square and Libali of Bhaktapur Municipality and Nagadesh, Bode, Chapachho of Madhyapur Municipality are busy delivering orders.

Kasi informed that he alone received orders for 200,000 palachas for the upcoming festival but said as he was now also busy reconstructing his house damaged by the 2015 earthquake, he had been able to make only 50,000 palachas so far.

“Traders from Chapagaun, Asan, Sunakothi and Swyambhu, among other places of the Valley, visited my house and placed orders,” said Laxmi Prasad Prajapati, another potter of Talako. He said he had received orders not only from inside the Valley, but also from places such as Narayangadh, Trisuli, Gorkha, Illam and Jhapa this year.

“The good thing is, we have to neither ask our customers to buy our product nor visit places to sell it. Even staying home, we make enough money,” he said.

“Palacha is only made in Bhaktapur and that is the main reason why its makers cannot meet all their customers’ demand. Though there are a variety of modern lighting options, along with them people still want to use traditional lamps. And this trend is ever increasing,” said Om Dhaubadel, culture expert.