CHENNAI
The Federation of Chettinad Athangudi Heritage Flooring Tiles Manufacturer Association along with the MSME - Technology Development Center and Process and Product Development Center have filed an application seeking Geographical Indication (GI) tag for the famous handmade Athangudi tiles.
Athangudi is a village located in the outskirts of Sivaganga district, which is also known as the Chettinad of Tamil Nadu. The art of making these tiles has been practiced in this region for the last 500 years. And today, these tiles are in demand both in domestic and international markets. These eco-friendly tiles are used to decorate the interiors (floors, walls) of houses.
According to details provided by IPR attorney P. Sanjai Gandhi who filed this application on behalf of the two applicants, it was the Nagarathar Chettiars of Chettinad who initially introduced these in this region. “The Nagarathar Chettiars of Chettinad travelled to different South-East Asian as well as Western countries and their eyes picked on all the beautiful elements which they saw during their travel, which they brought back to their home and integrated those elements as a part of decorative to their mansions,” as per details furnished in the filing.
Mr. Gandhi said that with today’s generation focusing more on antiques and old styled homes there is a great demand for these tiles. “If this product gets a GI tag it would also benefit several artisans who are making this at the Athangudi region,” he added.
So how are these tiles made? A transparent piece of glass is clasped to a clean metal frame that acts as a bounding box to achieve the required size of the tile. To print the chosen pattern or motif, a stencil is placed over the glass plate within the frame. The frame is placed on a glass plate of the same size as the tile. Next, a cement mixture is prepared. The coloured mixes are pre-prepared by blending finely-sieved sand and white cement with the respective coloured oxides in water, to a thick consistency. They are then poured into the different sections of the stencil with ladles.
Alternatively, the coloured mixes are poured onto the glass plate directly and freehand swirls or floral designs are created with sticks. A dry powder of sand and cement is spread over the mix as soon as the stencil is removed from the frame. The bounding metal frame is then removed and the tiles are dried for a day before immersing them in water for 8-12 days. They are then dried under the sun and during this process the glass plate detaches itself naturally from the tile. And finally, a stone is rubbed gently against the edges to obtain a smooth finish.
A GI tag is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation by virtue of their geographical association. The owner of the GI tag has exclusive rights over the product. Also it maybe noted that a GI application could be rejected under various parameters.
