Swamimalai and Kumbakonam: a day among the temples
A one-day route through the temple towns around our foundry, with bronzes to look for along the way.
A casting day at the foundry
The pour takes a few minutes, but the day starts before dawn. Here is what happens on a casting day in Swamimalai.
Casting days at our foundry start before sunrise, because the work is hot and the morning air is cooler. On a typical pour, we cast six to ten moulds together, which have been drying in the shade for up to two weeks after the wax was coated in Cauvery clay.
By 5 am the moulds are stacked in a pit and covered with dried cow-dung cakes and firewood. As they heat, the wax runs out through the channels into trays, and we weigh it. The weight of the wax tells our senior sthapathi, Murugesan, how much metal each mould needs, with a little extra to fill the channels.
Meanwhile, the metal is melted in clay crucibles in a charcoal furnace worked by an electric blower, which replaced the old leather bellows years ago. Copper melts at around 1,085 °C, so the crucible glows bright orange. When the moulds are red hot and the metal is ready, two men lift each crucible with long tongs and pour in one smooth movement. A pour takes under a minute. Nobody talks while it happens.
The moulds cool through the afternoon. The next morning, the clay is broken with small hammers and the rough castings come out, dark and covered in clay. We check each one for gaps. Most come out whole; one in fifteen or so has a flaw and goes back to the furnace. If you would like to watch a pour, ask us for the next date.
