Telangana’s Cheriyal art takes a functional route to spread Deepavali cheer

Cheriyal artist Saikiran Dhanalakota has crafted two Cheriyal functional art pieces: tealight holders on recycled CDs and hand-painted wooden coasters. The coasters depict celebratory scenes on discarded wood packaging material. Orders can be placed through social media or Club Artizen website.

With around 10 days to go for Deepavali, the excitement to celebrate the festival is slowly building up in Hyderabad. At Cheriyal artist Saikiran Dhanalakota’s house in Gajularamaram, the festive cheer is set to spread with a bag consisting of old CDs and wood packaging material.

“We ushered in Deepavali in September itself,” Saikiran says with a smile. At the forefront of giving a contemporary spin to traditional folk arts, he has tied up with Hyderabad-based Club Artizan, a sustainable platform for artisans to sell their products across the country.

His two Cheriyal functional art pieces for Deepavali include tealight candle holders on music CDs, and hand painted wooden coasters.

Old dusty CDs have been recycled to create colourful decor items in an effort to reinvent traditional art for the younger generation. Club Artizen had held a collection drive to recycle old CDs, informs Saikiran who developed a process to work with the surface of the CD, so that he could directly paint on it. “Instead of limiting Cheriyal art to paintings , we wanted to create something different, utilitarian and artistic.”

The music CDs were inspired by his own collection of wall plates with Cheriyal art. The process begins by rubbing a sandpaper vigorously on CD’s labelled surface, “making the surface rough.” The artist then applies a white primer and creates Cheriyal art on it, in natural colours of yellow, orange and green followed by a coat of clear varnish on the artwork. “A tealight candle stand is fixed on its index hole to give an aesthetic appeal. The piece can be reused as a candlestand even after Deepavali.”

Nature, trees, a house and a girl’s hands spread out (as if to hold diyas) are some of the artworks on these CDs that Club Artizan gives as part of its Deepavali gift hamper. A team of three artists, including two women, can create around 40 colourful CD artworks in one day, informs Saikiran.

Coasters with a vibrant red background depicting a girl playing guitar and celebratory scenes are created on discarded wood packaging material.