Aranmula kannadi
Aranmula kannadi is special type of mirror produced at Aranmula, a village in the state of Kerala in India.
This unique metal mirror of Aranmula, reflects a rich cultural as well as metallurgical heritage of a golden past in the history of Kerala. The British Museum in London keeps an eighteen inch tall Aranmula Metal Mirror, which speaks of its uniqueness. The origin of the metal mirrors of Aranmula is closely laced with the Aranmula Parthasarathy Temple.The legend has it that eight families of experts in temple arts and crafts were brought by the royal chief to Aranmula from Tirunelveli district in connection with certain works in the Parthasarathy temple centuries ago. There are only a few families in the world who practice the art of making Metal Mirrors. Some undisclosed metals are alloyed with copper and tin to cast the Metal Mirror. The polishing can go on for one to two days so as to achieve highly reflective surfaces. The major differences between an Aranmula kannadi and a normal mirror are: The Aranmula kannadi is not produced from glass but from a metal alloy.It is a front surface reflection mirror with neglectable aberration comparing with other back surface reflection mirrors. The procedure and metallurgy are only known to a single family at Aranmula.
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