Behind the Glow: The Untold Story of Chennais Light Artisans

Art often escapes the boundaries of the traditional canvas. Light painting in photography captures fleeting trails of brightness in the air, while graffiti and street murals transform urban walls into open-air galleries. Some artists turn spaces into immersive, site-specific works, tattoo artists use skin as their medium, and even culinary artists create edible compositions meant to be admired before they are consumed. But we rarely think of those whose work lights up our streets with creativity and colour. During the month of Aadi and in fact, throughout the year their craft comes alive in spectacular ways. Over the last few weeks, Chennai brimmed with stalls outside temples, bustling streets filled with devotees in reds and yellows, neem leaves adorning doorways, and intricate kolams gracing thresholds. By dusk, the streets shimmered with images of gods and goddesses outlined in radiant bulbs, casting their luminous presence into the night. Behind these dazzling displays are artists who design and bring to life these towering, light-traced visions of the divine. If you, like many others, assumed that our local electrical and light shop vendors and contractors were the ones creating these artworks, you are mistaken. There lies a specialised craft a business in its own right where skilled artisans produce these larger-than-life-sized installations. RKV Sammy, a light decorating contractor, clarifies, We purchase these installations from artists who specialise in creating these stencil-like cutouts. Our men then tie them up to frames and adorn them with strings of lights. He adds that there are very few artists who create these installations in the city and have honed their skills. Among them is Aasai Raj from Saidapet, who has been in the business for 35 years. I was 13 years old when I first took an interest in this. I would often spot my late guru, Boobathy, making these and began to learn from him. I quit my schooling after class 10 and got into the business with him first before setting out on my own, he says. Cut-out Arumugam, another student of Boobathy, also started out young. I have also been doing this for more than 30 years with my base in T Nagar. Chennai has only a few people who are experienced artists in this business, not more than five or seven, he says, adding this is because the work demands years of practice, precise calculations, creative vision, and skilful craftsmanship. From temple inaugurations and grand weddings to political meetings and illuminated portraits of leaders, the demand is constant. Months like Aadi bring a surge of devotional displays, December calls for Christmas-related displays, and so on. But beyond these, theres always a project underway. For these artists, the calendar is a continuous cycle of creation, leaving them with hardly a day to truly take off. The process The first step is to visualise the subject and apply mental calculations. Lets assume that for Aadi , someone wants an Amman piece. If it is 30 feet tall, I will first see the image the client has as reference and decide mentally, the height and breadth of each part legs, face, torso, and so on. Then, Ill start sketching it on the floor, says Aasai Raj. He often begins at the base of the subject shaping the legs first, then the torso, followed by the hands, the neck, and finally, the face. After the sketch is complete, the real work begins. Bamboo sticks are cut, shaved, and sharpened, then carefully bent and positioned to trace the lines of the artwork. Each piece is joined with nails, creating a sturdy, stencil-like framework that later becomes the base for the strings of lights. Until a few decades ago, bamboo shaping was done entirely by hand using blades, but today it is commonly done with machinery. Though seemingly harmless, shaving and cutting bamboo releases fine dust that can trigger respiratory allergies, but workers simply pull on masks and carry on. We use a particular variety of bamboo for this. In Tamil, we call it Kanni Oodai, Arumugam says. Aasai Raj further explains. Bamboo can grow up to a hundred feet or more. The base is very strong, and it gets thinner as we trace its height. So, the midsection of bamboo trees is what we use. Due to seasonal unavailability of bamboo, like in extreme summers and wet and cold seasons, these artists are often required to buy and store it in advance, either in their workshops if space allows it, or in small godown spaces they may rent. The work, however, is also met with other challenges. My workshop space is only about 14 feet wide and 20 feet tall. So the only option while making huge installations is to make it in parts. Although it may sound easy, the challenge is in ensuring that when pieced together, every part is proportional to one another and the picture comes to life perfectly, Aasai Raj says. He gives the example of the jewellery on goddesses, explaining that if the waistband on the torso is made to a certain width and length, the necklaces must be in proportion. If one piece is too large, it becomes obvious that it was made separately, breaking the harmony of the design. Aasai Raj has made up to 60-foot-tall pieces, all in parts that are later also shipped to their destinations, where they are assembled as a whole. I have made and sent installations of Tamil Gods to Malaysias famous Murugan temple. The installation travelled in a ship for 28 days, he says, gleaming with pride. The work demands not just unwavering attention to detail, but time too. To create a piece that is 20 feet tall and 15-16 feet wide, it takes Arumugam about seven to eight days. Aasai Raj also echoes a similar timeline. The bigger the installations, the moretime. But is it a one-man job? While not impossible to share, these artists often end up doing the bulk of the work alone, not by choice, but out of necessity. Arumugam laments that people who come to learn the art dont stick to it. People come and leave in two to three years. With the little they have learnt, they started their own business, but they only offer small art pieces like banana trees, lamps, and two hands folded into a welcome that people put up for weddings and other small functions. For such big installations, they need years of practice. We dont have enough skilled people to help, learn, and continue on their own, he rues. On the other hand, artists say women are not known to be in this business, and the reason remains unclear. It is not that they cant do the work. I have taught my wife after marriage, and she helps around and does the work really well, Aasai Raj observes. Improvising along the way Initially, people requested the familiar, most common depictions of gods and goddesses. But during thiruvizhas , new challenges emerged as villages began asking for more imaginative designs. Soon, scenes expanded to include Amman rising from flames, Arjunan from the Mahabharata on his chariot, Murugan accompanied by peacocks, and many more. I like such challenging work because it makes me think creatively and come up with newer ideas. People even started to ask for the installation of their loved ones to be put up on their death anniversary. There, I am being trusted with the job of replicating ones features as accurately as possible to honour their memory. That is difficult work, but I enjoy that challenge, Aasai Raj says. Visual storytelling, too, has entered this world, as static images no longer hold peoples attention, and they want things to move, to feel alive. Artists now infuse images with a sense of movement and action, as if the figures themselves have come to life. Taking the example of the Arjunan on his chariot, Aasai Raj explains, We will make three wheels in the place of one and the light men will give connection in such a way that one wheel will be lit up first and go off only for the next wheel to light up and so on. It will give the illusion of the wheels rotating. Similarly, he has also created installations of Amman speaking, by making two to three mouths that share a message, brought to life through three separate lighting circuits, so each mouth might light up in a sequence to create the illusion of speech. Another work, a peacock turning its head back and forth along with multiple feathers, each lighting up in a sequence, demanded 64 circuits, he says, adding, It was very complex, but I achieved the result and it became a big hit. For these artists, word-of-mouth promotion is powerful. Once their work is showcased and appreciated, theyre quickly sought after for the next big social event. Keeping up with the times, some have also begun promoting themselves on social media, building portfolios to showcase their creations. Aasai Raj, for instance, posts the videos and pictures his clients send to his Facebook and YouTube. He believes it makes it easier for new light contractors to trust him with new work. Their artworks, however, do not vanish into nothingness after a single use, nor do they lose their worth overnight. Many light decorators reuse the bamboo stencils for years, carrying their glow from one celebration to the next, before finally reselling them to other contractors and seeking fresh designs for their inventory. The lights and celebrations may be fleeting, but the artists creations endure carrying their glow from one festival to the next, long after the dawn cracks.