We have barely finished our Avurudu celebrations and it seems it’s time for Vesak. Catching sight of lantern frames opposite McDonalds, Rajagiriya, we are taken by surprise. But while it is too early to hang up your Vesak kudus at home, the man making all these dainty frames displayed along the Parliament drive, Bandula Perera felt he needed to be one of the first to get into the business this season.
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| Bandula Perera busy at work. Pix by Mangala Weerasekera |
We proceeded down the little path towards Bandula’s humble hut off the main road. P. R. Gunawardena who was fastening a star-shaped kuduwa and guarding their frames woke up Bandula who was having a nap after a hectic day. Hastily putting on his shirt Bandula began to show us all the delicate frames- star-shaped, attapattama, buckets etc that were hung up in his hut.
The rains have been bucketing down but the frames have been still on display this past week. “I started making the lanterns eight months ago. Policemen keep asking me to remove them and at times the vehicles that pass by would pick up one or two frames and vanish,” says Bandula disappointed but undeterred.
He has teamed up with P. R. Gunawardena and Christie Wijesinghe in his neighbourhood to cut sticks into different sizes to make different sizes of lanterns. The material he uses is bought from a company as an alternative for bamboo sticks. No pencil marks are needed for Bandula to cut the sticks into appropriate lengths, the skill is at his finger tips -the result of making lanterns for the past 18-20 years.
“It is strenuous for my hands to fasten them at a stretch,” he said showing us all the cuts on his fingers. The material is distributed among 25 families in his neighbourhood to make the lantern frames to ease this time consuming labour.
“I earn a considerable profit during Vesak, more than the income I make from kites too, but more than half of the money goes to the people who make the frames. Whether we can sell or not is not their business. I need to give their share,” says Bandula.
“It only take ten minutes for me to fasten a bucket after cutting the sticks – that is the easiest and the cheapest,” said Bandula. But a quick look through his lanterns and we see there is much to choose from. If one places an order, he will make lanterns in different shapes like the “Nelum mal” and even the complete ones. Prices range from Rs 75 to 250. |
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