Every summer, Pudhu Mandapam in Madurai bustles with activities as devotees throng these shops to make their purchases for the annual Chithirai festival. During this time, it is common to notice dressmakers working on bright, colourful fabric and shops selling packages containing thaali threads, turmeric and kungumam. “It is usually during the Chithirai festival that we earn decent profits. Business is dull during the rest of the year,” says N. Ramachandran, a tailor.
However, this summer has turned out to be disastrous for these shopkeepers. With the lockdown imposed as a measure to contain the spread of COVID-19 pandemic, the district administration has announced that no crowds of devotees would be allowed to gather for this year’s Chithirai festival. This has affected the livelihood of these shopkeepers, as there are no buyers for their products.
Mr. Ramachandran says that hundreds of tailors stitch various types of garments for the devotees who dress up for different roles during the festival — salladam (trousers), kachai (cloth tied around the waist) and urma (head gear).
“All these costumes require detailed work and hence we all started working on them from the beginning of March. Some tailors have even stitched around 40 of these costumes. But, because of the current crisis we cannot sell them and it will be difficult for us to repay the money-lenders,” he says.
L.R.T. Sanjayan, another tailor, says that they would be forced to sell these garments at a lower price during the next Chithirai festival. “The velvet fabric present in these costumes tend to appear old if the material is kept unused for a long time,” he says.
Similarly, hundreds of shopkeepers selling products like anklets, sticks, umbrellas, bangles, turmeric and kungumam are also affected, says the president of Pudhu Mandapam Traders and Tailors Association G. Muthupandi. “This is a first-of-its-kind crisis that all the shopkeepers have to face. Most of us have been involved in this business for many generations and are dependent on it for our livelihoods,” he says.
One way of supporting the tailors would be grant permission for them to stitch face masks and the district administration can procure it from them, suggests Mr. Muthupandi.
