Originally from Bengaluru, B. S. Murugesh Nayakar set up shop in 1936 with 20 odd Petromax lamps he bought from Germany and Czechoslovakia.
People rent these lamps during mid-July to celebrate the festival of ‘Aadi Perukku’, and mid September-October, which is considered auspicious by many Hindus.
Customers say that Petromax can give the “divine golden glow to idols”, which the other lights cannot.
In 1980s, when these lamps were gradually fading away, Murugesh’s son M. Govindasamy bought a machine compressor, replacing the hand pump, to push kerosene from one tank to another.
The high cost of labour and unavailability of kerosene, known as ‘Krishna oil’ in Tamil for its blue colour, made a massive dent in sales.
Reporting: Avantika Krishna
Visuals: C. Venkatachalapathy
Production and Voiceover: Yuvasree S
