Earthen diya loses light to electric bulbs

Gone are the days when people used to make a beeline to purchase "Mati Deepa" (earthen diyas) to light their houses on Diwali.

But now they prefer candles and rows of small electric bulbs to the earthen diyas to decorate their house during the 'festival of lights'.

Economy is one of the main reasons for largescale use of small electric bulbs, said the traders. Price rise of vegetable oil was one of the reasons for replacing the earthen lamps, they said.

A litre of the mostly used vegetable oil is priced around Rs100 a litre in Berhampur market, while a chain of small electric bulbs costs Rs30 to Rs200, depending on the variety. Similarly, candles cost between Re1 and Rs20.

"Several decorative electric bulbs including some in the shape of diya are available in the market. Why would one go for the earthen lamp?" asked Kedara Behera, a private company employee.

Moreover, there was lesser risk of fire accidents caused by electric bulb was less, added Prafulla Kumar Padhy, an engineer.

Padhy, however, said he is used the 'mati dipa' at the time of the 'dipa dana', an evening  practice to evoke dead souls of the family.

Since the past several years, sale of 'mati dipa' has decreased but it did not mean people totally rejected the earthen variety, said Rabi Behera, an earthen diya seller at Gate Bazar area.