Cauvery riots delay arrival of artefacts for Onam Fair

Thiruvananthapuram: The riots in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu have affected the Onam fair being held on Kanakakkunnu to a certain extent, with consignments of traders stuck in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. One of the affected parties, the www.grameen.in web portal based in Technopark, had 700-800 products coming from Gujarat and Rajasthan. Now the consignments cannot even be traced.

“Some of the people bringing the products have gone back home. Many of them had skipped the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Maharashtra, with the hope that there would be a good turnout here,” says the portal’s vice-president Jayakrishnan Nair. Had the consignments arrived on time, there would have been a variety of products including Dhokra figurines from Gujarat, various handicraft products and traditional weaves like Ikat saris.

The only products that they have on display are Balaramapuram handloom saris and Channapatna toys. Fortunately, the person who brought Channapatna toys was in Mangalore for some other reason. Many others were luckier. David C. from Chennai, who was selling jewellery at the fair, had arrived ten days before Onam. Kalyan Sahay at the Kolhapuri footwear stall had reached Kerala 15 days ago, to make the most of the Onam celebrations in the state. These were regulars. The fair concludes on September 20, and Mr Jayakrishnan is hopeful that a few consignments will arrive before that.