A Dream Of The Truest Mirror

Kept hidden in the chests of a few families of Aranmula is a secret to one of the most treasured items of India. Named after its birthplace, Aranmula Kannadi (mirror) is the shiniest non-glass mirror which is known to show one their truest self. But what makes Aranmula Kannadi so special?

An Aranmula Kannadi. SOURCE - South India Tourism

About 500 years ago, a woman saw a dream in which she had seen the exact way of creating such a mirror that could show one their truest self. That dream was the birth of Aranmula Kannadi. This mirror is nothing short of magic. As the woman’s dream suggested, this mirror shows the truest form of an object, when reflected on it, without any distortion.

The legend of the discovery of this shiny metal has many versions. The most widely known is when the local ruler invited well-trained karigars from the neighboring state of Tamil Nadu to make the statue of Lord Parthasarathy, a name given to Lord Krishna which translated to ‘Charioteer of Arjuna’ for the 18th-century old Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple. During that time, a woman from a family had a dream in which she saw the exact process of creating a mirror that could show the truest form of an object without distortion. After experimenting with metals a little they finally created what we today know as the Aranmula Kannadi, made from a mixture of copper and tin to create a well-reflected surface.

Another version of the story mentions that a few centuries ago, the head priest of the Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple found a crack in the crown of Lord Parthasarathy. The King immediately ordered the bronze smith clan to make a crown in three days. The problem arose when the material to make materials to make the crown were unavailable and would take days to source. The frightened Chief of the bronze clan went home that they fearing for his life. His wife asked her worried husband about the problem. After he narrated the incident they went to bed. That night, a  Goddess appeared in the wife's dream and told her about the perfect way to create a material that would shine like a mirror. She requested the ladies of her community to part with their gold jewellery to exchange it for tin and copper. The crown was then made out of a combination of tin and copper, as per the instructions of the Goddess. This led to the discovery of the  Aranmula Kannadi.

Process of melting metals in the mold. SOURCE - thearanmulakannadi

Since then, the ratio of materials - Cooper and tin-  used in making the Aranmula Kannadi has been shrouded in secrecy and has been passed down through generations of artisans who closely guard this secret. It is an unspoken rule of the community of these artisans never to give up their secret. For people of South India, especially in Kerala, Aranmula Kannadi serves as a very precious heirloom. It is an auspicious object which is seen as a symbol of good luck and is known to bring prosperity into homes. It is a part of the ‘Ashtamangalya’ - one of the eight auspicious objects that are displayed during functions such as weddings, New Year or any such social function.

What makes Aranmula Kannadi special is its reflective surface, which, unlike regular mirrors, does not contain any glass. Instead, a combination of tin and copper is heated, poured onto a surface, and polished for days to create a reflective surface. The art of creating Aranmula Kannadi is a painstaking process that is carried out entirely by hand. Whenever you visit these skilled artisans' small working yards, the fire's distant crackling can always be heard in the background.

Process of Polishing the Aranmula Kannadi at its disk stage. SOURCE - aranmulakannadi.org

The science behind the Aranmula Kannadi is simple. It eliminates a secondary reflection and instead falls on the surface of the metal avoiding any curvature. Before the Aranmula Kannadi, about 8000 years ago, the people of ancient Mexico, used obsidian, a type of stone, as a mirror, which had to go through the same process of being polished until the surface reflected the image. Somehow the process of creating an obsidian mirror feels like an inspiration that could have led to the discovery of the Aranmula mirror.

As it is purely handcrafted, the workers do everything by hand, be it grinding the soil, which they collect from the local paddy fields to breaking and melting the metals in the molds on high heat. It is a rigorous process and can stretch up to 10 - 20 days at an end while some may take only 4 days to complete. The process of making the Aranmula Kannadi involves making molds from scratch. The metals are put into these handmade clay molds and sealed shut as they bake in the furnace. The metal melts and then hardens in the shape of the mold. When it is taken out of the heat, it is only a metal disk until it is rubbed and polished to bring out the shine that makes this mirror so unique. After the mirror is ready, they fix it into frames that are made out of bronze. Throughout the process what was kept a secret was the ratio of the metals poured.

As with any other handicraft in our country, Aranmula Kannadi has also seen a lot of ups and downs, be it the 2018 flood in Kerala or COVID-19 Pandemic. It has survived all. As the pieces are made on special orders the market is always tight but recent International attention to this art has increased its popularity as India's one of the most rare handicrafts. Aranmulan Kannadi is an example of confounding metallurgical skills which has been given global recognition. Because of how one-of-a-kind this product is, it has been given its personal patent-protected GI or a 'Geographical Indication' tag.