Two schoolgirls admire earthen diyas at a stall near Harmu Bypass in Ranchi on Tuesday. Picture by Prashant Mitra

The festival of lights has sounded a dark war between earthen diyas and designer options.

Pre-Diwali fairs, offering the trendy variety, are seeing heavy footfall as the traditional lamp is slipping off the priority list of shoppers.

Organisations like Agarwal Sabha and the women’s wing of Junior Chamber International are organising these carnivals that are witnessing huge sale of designer diyas, bandarwars and other decorative items. Chinese lights, in particular, are fast replacing earthen lamps made by poor potters from the city and its outskirts.

A visit to the popular Kutchery market on Tuesday, just two days before the festival, revealed the sad situation these potters are grappling with.

A series of makeshift shops have been put up by the artisans, who have come from Bero, Thakurgaon and Nagri, where these diyas are available for only Re 1 and the price of the clay toys range between Rs 10 and Rs 20.

“Yet, there are no takers,” said Ashok Prajapati who is selling earthen diyas at a makeshift shop in Kutchery. “We came here two days ago, but haven’t had a single customer,” he rued.

Asked about the reason, the young artisan from Nagri blamed the innumerable fairs that offer customers a range of eyecatching items.

“Nowadays, many fairs are organised in the capital and people obviously would go for the designer ones available there,” he added.

A majority of these poor artisans claimed that they were registering drastic plunge in sale of earthen diyas with each passing year.

According to fair organisers, the main reasons behind this trend are the affordable price and a wide variety to choose from.

“People get easily attracted to fancy lamps owing to their myriad colours, shapes and pocket-friendly price. Lighting diyas is a time-consuming matter,” said Manjusha Jaiswal, secretary of Udaan, the women’s wing of Junior Chamber International.